Study finds drop in average age of Ohio nursing-home residents

A new state-commissioned report found that the average age of Ohio nursing home residents has dropped significantly in the past two decades, a finding that experts say is the result of some state successes and also a sign of areas that need more attention (Source: “Average age of Ohio nursing-home residents dropping,” Columbus Dispatch, Aug. 2, 2013).

Among the primary reasons for the change is that the percentage of Ohioans 60 or older who need help caring for themselves who are in a nursing home dropped from 91 percent in 1993 to 55 percent in 011. A statewide emphasis on promoting more home-based options for long-term care enabled the state’s ratio to improve from 47^th in the nation to 24^th.

On the other hand, the percentage of nursing-home residents younger than 60 more than tripled between 1994 and 2012, from 4 percent to 12.7 percent. And 1 in 6 Medicaid enrollees living in nursing homes was younger than 60 in 2011. That’s an increase of 26 percent from 1997 and coincided with an 11 percent drop in the number of Medicaid enrollees older than 60 in nursing homes. Those findings, experts say, indicate concerns in the state’s behavioral health-care system.