Baby boomers may be more willing to receive long-term care outside the home than was commonly believed, according to a LeadingAge poll released Monday.
Up to 40% of respondents would want to live somewhere other than their current home or apartment if they had a physical disability that required them to need help with daily activities, the survey found.
About 14% of the respondents indicated they would move to a place that is staffed to provide healthcare should the need for assistance arise. That number swelled to 42% if help was required due to dementia.
Becoming a burden on family members was cited as the biggest worry among participating baby boomers. Only 10%, meanwhile, said they were worried about not being able to stay in the community, and 11% said they were worried about having to live in a nursing home.
Affordability was seen as the biggest challenge to purchasing care among all respondents, according to the survey, which was conducted in January.
Some of these new findings are “stunning” and should serve to reshape both families’ and legislators’ perceptions about long-term care preferences, said Ruth Katz, senior vice president of public policy and advocacy for the Washington-based association.
“It is really time for policymakers to pay attention to what is really important to older Americans, and this survey shines a light on some of those preferences,” added Katz, who spoke about the findings at the organization’s Leadership Summit on Monday in Washington, D.C.
More than 1,200 older adults between age 60 and 72 participated in the poll, which asked them about late-life care preferences.
