At Home, Many Seniors Are Imprisoned by Their Independence
Almost two million people over age 65, or nearly 6 percent of those Americans (excluding nursing home residents), rarely or never leave their homes, researchers recently reported in JAMA Internal Medicine. The homebound far outnumber the 1.4 million residents of nursing homes.
Using data from the 2011 National Health and Aging Trends Study, the study authors defined as homebound those who in the past month had not left their homes at all or had gone out no more than once a week. The researchers categorized another six million people as “semi-homebound,” able to leave home only with difficulty or with another’s assistance.