Geographic concentration and correlates of nursing home closures: 1999-2008.

ABSTRACT:

Background

While demographic shifts project an increased need for long-term care for an aging population, hundreds of nursing homes close each year. We examine whether nursing home closures are geographically concentrated and related to local community characteristics such as the racial and ethnic population mix and poverty.

Methods

National Online Survey Certification and Reporting data were used to document cumulative nursing facility closures over a decade, 1999 through 2008. Census 2000 zip code level demographics and poverty rates were matched to study facilities. The weighted Gini coefficient was used to measure geographic concentration of closures, and geographic information system maps to illustrate spatial clustering patterns of closures. Changes in bed supply due t

SUBMITTER: Feng Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3748956 | biostudies-literature | 2011 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature