Functional and Psychosocial Profile of Older People Living in Nursing Homes: Findings from the European Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE)
Background: This paper is based on results from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), exploring many aspects (health, economic situation and welfare) of the European population aged 50+. Differently from many other international studies, SHARE includes persons living in nurs...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-10-01
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| Series: | Healthcare |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/11/19/2702 |
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| author | Marco Socci Mirko Di Rosa Barbara D’Amen Maria Gabriella Melchiorre |
| author_facet | Marco Socci Mirko Di Rosa Barbara D’Amen Maria Gabriella Melchiorre |
| author_sort | Marco Socci |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: This paper is based on results from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), exploring many aspects (health, economic situation and welfare) of the European population aged 50+. Differently from many other international studies, SHARE includes persons living in nursing homes or residential care facilities as part of its sample. The aim of this paper is to provide a socio-demographic, functional and psychosocial snapshot of older residents in nursing homes in Europe. Methods: This paper uses data from SHARE Wave 8/2020, carried out in 27 European countries. A quantitative/descriptive approach explores the prevalence of older people aged 65+ living in residential facilities as mapped by the SHARE survey across Europe, with regard to associated dimensions, i.e., socio-demographic, family relationship, perceived health/main diseases, functional and psychological status. Results: These show that older residents live mainly in Central and Northern Europe, are aged 80+, female and widowed. A small social network (SN) size is often reported. Health is perceived, above all, as being fair–poor, and the presence of long-term illness is high, with several chronic health conditions and functional limitations. The reported quality of life (QoL) is low for most respondents, with moderate–low satisfaction with life. Conclusion: The analysis depicts a profile of seniors needing residential care in Europe, and provides useful insights for policymakers, to better sustain this frail population group, and to allow and improve access to high-quality long-term care (LTC) in Europe. Our findings could also be of help to train health professionals, and potentially drive the research towards the exploration of new housing solutions for seniors. This would in turn contribute to the effective implementation of European initiatives to strengthen LTC systems. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T21:44:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3b3d428f965c46068357b05fb37c5a73 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-9032 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T21:44:30Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Healthcare |
| spelling | doaj.art-3b3d428f965c46068357b05fb37c5a732023-11-19T14:26:05ZengMDPI AGHealthcare2227-90322023-10-011119270210.3390/healthcare11192702Functional and Psychosocial Profile of Older People Living in Nursing Homes: Findings from the European Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE)Marco Socci0Mirko Di Rosa1Barbara D’Amen2Maria Gabriella Melchiorre3Centre for Socio-Economic Research on Ageing, IRCCS INRCA—National Institute of Health and Science on Ageing, Via Santa Margherita 5, 60124 Ancona, ItalyCentre for Biostatistics and Applied Geriatric Clinical Epidemiology, IRCCS INRCA—National Institute of Health and Science on Ageing, Via Santa Margherita 5, 60124 Ancona, ItalyItalian National Institute of Statistics—ISTAT, Via Cesare Balbo 39, 00184 Roma, ItalyCentre for Socio-Economic Research on Ageing, IRCCS INRCA—National Institute of Health and Science on Ageing, Via Santa Margherita 5, 60124 Ancona, ItalyBackground: This paper is based on results from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), exploring many aspects (health, economic situation and welfare) of the European population aged 50+. Differently from many other international studies, SHARE includes persons living in nursing homes or residential care facilities as part of its sample. The aim of this paper is to provide a socio-demographic, functional and psychosocial snapshot of older residents in nursing homes in Europe. Methods: This paper uses data from SHARE Wave 8/2020, carried out in 27 European countries. A quantitative/descriptive approach explores the prevalence of older people aged 65+ living in residential facilities as mapped by the SHARE survey across Europe, with regard to associated dimensions, i.e., socio-demographic, family relationship, perceived health/main diseases, functional and psychological status. Results: These show that older residents live mainly in Central and Northern Europe, are aged 80+, female and widowed. A small social network (SN) size is often reported. Health is perceived, above all, as being fair–poor, and the presence of long-term illness is high, with several chronic health conditions and functional limitations. The reported quality of life (QoL) is low for most respondents, with moderate–low satisfaction with life. Conclusion: The analysis depicts a profile of seniors needing residential care in Europe, and provides useful insights for policymakers, to better sustain this frail population group, and to allow and improve access to high-quality long-term care (LTC) in Europe. Our findings could also be of help to train health professionals, and potentially drive the research towards the exploration of new housing solutions for seniors. This would in turn contribute to the effective implementation of European initiatives to strengthen LTC systems.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/11/19/2702older peoplenursing homesresidential care facilitieshealthfunctional statuspsychosocial profile |
| spellingShingle | Marco Socci Mirko Di Rosa Barbara D’Amen Maria Gabriella Melchiorre Functional and Psychosocial Profile of Older People Living in Nursing Homes: Findings from the European Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) Healthcare older people nursing homes residential care facilities health functional status psychosocial profile |
| title | Functional and Psychosocial Profile of Older People Living in Nursing Homes: Findings from the European Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) |
| title_full | Functional and Psychosocial Profile of Older People Living in Nursing Homes: Findings from the European Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) |
| title_fullStr | Functional and Psychosocial Profile of Older People Living in Nursing Homes: Findings from the European Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Functional and Psychosocial Profile of Older People Living in Nursing Homes: Findings from the European Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) |
| title_short | Functional and Psychosocial Profile of Older People Living in Nursing Homes: Findings from the European Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) |
| title_sort | functional and psychosocial profile of older people living in nursing homes findings from the european survey of health ageing and retirement in europe share |
| topic | older people nursing homes residential care facilities health functional status psychosocial profile |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/11/19/2702 |
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