Twenty-eight percent of affluent adults aged 50 or more years participating in a recent survey said they believe they are likely to receive long-term care at an assisted living community when they need it, although only 15% identified assisted living as their preferred location.
The Harris Poll, conducted on behalf of the Nationwide Retirement Institute, surveyed more than 1,000 older adults with household incomes of at least $150,000. Results were released Wednesday.
Respondents ranked assisted living higher than family members’ homes, adult day care and nursing homes as far as where they would prefer to receive care and where they believe they are likely to receive care. Only their own homes ranked higher than assisted living.
The availability of professional care was the most popular reason cited by poll participants for choosing an assisted living community, with 58% of respondents citing it. Other reasons included taking a burden off family members (49%), feeling comfort and familiarity with surroundings (42%), not being left alone (41%), affordability (38%), the chance to have more interaction with family (29%) and being in closer proximity to family (18%).
When talking about a parent or elderly family member, 42% of respondents said they would prefer that their loved ones have funding to pay for a quality assisted living community or nursing home. That compared with 39% who said they preferred that their loved ones receive care in their own homes and 19% who said they preferred that loved ones receive long-term care in a family member’s home.
See the full survey results for additional information.
