Community Corner
Most Seniors Want To Stay In Their Homes — MA Makes It Hard: New Report
The vast majority of older Americans want to "age in place." A new study examines where it's easiest — and most difficult — to do that.
A record 4.2 million American will turn 65 this year, and 75 percent of them want to stay in their home, rather than relocate to assisted living or retirement facilities. Unfortunately, Massachusetts is one of the tougher states for achieving that goal, according to a new report.
The Bay State ranked No. 35 in a list of the "Best & Worst States for Aging In Place." The analysis comes from Seniorly.com, which studied data from a variety of sources to create the list.
"Aging in place isn’t just a preference, it’s a lifestyle choice with real benefits," according to Seniorly.com. "In some cases it can be more affordable than congregate care, more flexible, and far more personal. But it also comes with real risks: decreased socialization, limited care oversight, and consistency of care are all critical considerations that are often overlooked."
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The study examined the most recent data across 10 categories, including seniors’ risk of isolation, home health care quality, home health aide availability, emergency care timeliness, smart home adoption, housing costs, road safety, local walkability, food delivery access, and weather hazards.
Utah landed at the top of the list due to its low risk of social isolation, low levels of precipitation, and high levels of smart technology use.
Find out what's happening in Across Massachusettsfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Florida was dead last due to its limited access to home health aides, high housing costs, and low score in weather safety.
Some of the key findings for Massachusetts include that 44.8 percent of Massachusetts seniors live alone, which ranks No. 42 in the country. The median wait between ER arrival and departure in Massachusetts is 221 minutes, ranking No. 48.
It wasn't all bad news for Massachusetts: the state ranks high for its number of home health care aides per senior and its traffic safety, landing at No. 5 for its low number of fatal crashes.
Check out the full study by clicking here.
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