Geographic Variations in Moves into Institutions among the Elderly in England and Wales

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Data from the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (OPCS) Longitudinal Study have been used to examine geographic variations in the proportions of elderly people in private households in 1971 but resident in institutions 10 years later. Regional differences in this indicator of institutionalisation were generally small, as was the effect of net inter-regional migration among those in a private household in 1971 but in an institution in 1981. Institutionalisation rates were slightly raised in counties with large proportions of retirement migrants and in wards previously identified as 'residential retirement' areas. Areas with high densities of elderly people tended to have high institutionalisation rates, suggesting that effective community services may be harder to provide in areas with high proportions of elderly people.