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Institutionalisation and subjective wellbeing for old-age individuals: is life really miserable in care homes?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 October 2011

PETRI BÖCKERMAN ,
EDVARD JOHANSSON  and
SAMULI I. SAARNI
PETRI BÖCKERMAN*
Affiliation:
Labour Institute for Economic Research, Helsinki, Finland.
EDVARD JOHANSSON
Affiliation:
Åland University of Applied Sciences, Åland, Finland.
SAMULI I. SAARNI
Affiliation:
National Institute for Health and Welfare, Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and Helsinki University Central Hospital and Department of Psychiatry, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
*
Address for correspondence: Petri Böckerman, Labour Institute for Economic Research, Pitkänsillanranta 3A, FI-00530 Helsinki, Finland. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

In this paper we examine whether there are systematic differences in the quality of life, depending on whether an individual is institutionalised or not, holding health status and income level constant. In doing this we use a nationally representative data set, the Health 2000 in Finland. When controlling for health and functional status, demographics and income level, we find that individuals who are living in old-age homes actually report significantly higher levels of subjective wellbeing than those who are living at home. We argue that this finding emerges from queuing for care homes. This implies that there are individuals living at home who are so frail that they should really be living in an old-age institution, but because of the queues for that particular mode of living, they are living at home with a decreased quality of life as a consequence.

Keywords

ageingsubjective wellbeingquality of lifeinstitutionalisation
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 32 , Issue 7 , October 2012 , pp. 1176 - 1192
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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