How many senior citizens are in nursing homes?
April 2nd, 2010
According to some Internet sites that deal with senior citizens, there are a little over 19,000 senior citizen retirement homes that qualify as nursing centers in The United States. The population of elderly in these senior citizen homes are more than one million. That figure makes the percentage of senior citizens at close to 6% of the total population. The United States Census Bureau gives us the number of total population of people age 65 and older in the United States at 35. 9 million. The numbers given by nursing home centers state that as many as 20% of that population will be in nursing homes at some time in their lives.
As more and more people are living longer, the projected size of elderly people living in nursing homes is probably going to increase. There are some reasons for the increase in size of elderly living in nursing homes that are probably due to medical breakthroughs that can keep senior citizens alive longer even with diseases and some age related illnesses like dementia but require full time nursing care that only a nursing home can provide. The need for nursing home attendants will probably also increase as the job requires a level of commitment that can only be met by having a small caseload of senior citizens per nursing home attendants.
Age related disorders like Alzheimer’s as well as dementia has boosted the nursing home population. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has some good advice on how to find a nursing home for a senior citizen. Their information also includes those nursing homes that are certified Medicare or Medicaid approved.
These nursing centers give qualified nursing care by professional nurses as well as daily living assistance for the elderly.
The current 6% estimate of the total elderly population in nursing homes was a number determined in 2009. As the senior population increases, the total population in nursing homes will surely increase. There are also some other considerations to think about in arriving at a number of senior citizens in nursing homes. Some elderly retirement centers qualify as nursing homes because they are state licensed to provide medical care for their residents. On the other hand, there are also many senior citizens living in other elderly retirement centers that also provide nursing care but are not state licensed. Another consideration with the one million elderly living in nursing homes number is that some of these people are under the age of 65 and living in nursing homes and are therefore part of the total population of senior citizens living in nursing homes number that is given.