Community-Based Versus Institutional Supportive Housing

Abstract

Numerous options for residential supportive housing are available for people who need long-term care. Some options are categorized as institutional while others are designated community-based; the movement to rebalance the long-term care system emphasizes the latter category. This study examines the experiences of 150 residents of two types of community-based supportive housing—assisted living (AL) and residential care homes (RCHs)—and one institutional category—nursing homes (NHs). Examining a wide range of both quantitative and qualitative outcomes, overall results show that AL residents have the best experiences and NH residents report the worst outcomes, with RCHs residents varying in the middle. However, other factors such as age, perceived health, involvement in the decision to move to the residence, and length of time in the residence, eliminate the independent effect of housing type, per se. Efforts to provide high-quality supportive housing should focus on these key factors.