Focus Group Survey 

Western Illinois Area Agency on Aging
2006 Focus Group Survey

Reasons Seniors Move From Private Housing to Senior Housing Facilities
December 2005

Focus groups conducted by:
Deb Castillo, Information and Planning Manager

There were two goals for the Western Illinois Area Agency on Aging Focus Group Surveys for FY 2006:

• To obtain a better perspective on why seniors move out of their homes into senior housing
• To assess which obstacles seniors encounter when attempting to remain in their own homes which ultimately result in their decisions to move to alternate housing

The purpose of these focus groups was to provide the Agency with a profile of the obstacles which often cause seniors to move from their homes into senior housing. It is the hope of the Agency to develop a comprehensive understanding of the obstacles seniors face as they age in their homes. return to Table of Contents

The Western Illinois Area on Aging (WIAAA) is a not-for-profit planning and service agency in Rock Island, Illinois, which serves a ten county area in western Illinois (PSA 03). The counties in this planning and service area are: Bureau, Henderson, Henry, Knox, LaSalle, McDonough, Mercer, Putnam, Rock Island and Warren.

The Western Illinois Area Agency on Aging mission statement says our "primary objectives are to develop a system of services to aid older persons in continuing to live independent, meaningful and dignified lives and to assure persons equal access to available services." Some of the services which WIAAA provides:

• Community Focal Points/Caregiver Resource Centers
• Information and Assistance
• Outreach
• Transportation
• Congregate Meal Sites
• Home Delivered Meals
• Case Management
• Legal Assistance

Even though these services exist it doesn’t mean that seniors who need them are accessing them. The hope of the Agency was to come to a better understanding of the obstacles seniors face when trying to remain independent in their own homes, evaluating whether or not access to services was a factor. In addition, the Western Illinois Area Agency on Aging hoped to obtain a clearer vision on what might be done to overcome these obstacles. return to Table of Contents

Face-to-face interviews were conducted with three focus groups containing 6-8 participants each. These surveys were conducted by Deb Castillo, the Information and Planning Manager, in three settings throughout our Planning and Service Area. Seniors who have moved from their homes into senior housing were targeted through contact with six senior housing facilities in three counties in our service area. There were five open ended interview questions which were designed to be exploratory in nature, serving as a guide to discussion intended to access particular knowledge and expertise of the person being interviewed. While the sample of seniors was neither randomly selected nor representative of a target population, a wide range of information was gathered. return to Table of Contents

There were seventeen participants total, ranging in age from 65 to 95 with various levels of physical health from severely disabled with ambulatory impairment to relatively healthy, still driving a car and working a part time job. Sixteen of the participants were female (one still married, the rest single) and one was male (still married). Six had lived in rural settings while eleven had lived in metropolitan areas prior to moving into senior housing. return to Table of Contents

Some of the obstacles cited by seniors in the focus groups which prevented them remaining in their own homes were: no family in the area, yard upkeep and general house maintenance, spouse died and participant feared being alone, spouse died and participant could no longer afford the home, financial hardship after retirement, declining health and inability to care properly for oneself and safety concerns about living alone in a home which can be easily penetrated by outsiders/criminals. return to Table of Contents

Out of seventeen participants, only three said they would have preferred to remain in their homes if the obstacles could have been overcome. These three were avid outdoor gardeners and enjoyed puttering around the yard. The general comment among all seventeen participants was that they had reached a turning point in their lives when "it was time to move" based on circumstances such as: divorce, death of a spouse, no family in the area, yard maintenance too difficult and expensive, home upkeep too difficult and expensive, declining health, etc. The opinion appeared to be unanimous among the seniors that there came a time in their lives, sometimes within their control and sometimes not, when they knew they must make a decision and prepare to leave the home. When asked if receiving services while in their own homes would have afforded them the ability to remain there, most said "no", that they knew it was time to go. (Let it be stated here that these seventeen participants had been pretty self sufficient until an event in their lives caused them to think about moving. They stated that they did not feel "forced" to move but rather reached a point in their lives that forced them to think about an alternate living arrangements).  return to Table of Contents

It was generally remarked by most of the participants that they managed their own household tasks and personal care up until such time as their health began to decline due to illness or general health issues (hearing loss, eye sight difficulties, arthritis, etc). The frailer they became the more they began to accept assistance from their children, neighbors and church members. A general comment was: "I hated to admit I could no longer care for myself as I once had". Fourteen of the seventeen participants stated that it was difficult to admit that they needed help when the time came. Fifteen of the participants remarked that they felt that they were imposing on family, friends and neighbors at some point and they did not feel good about that. They admitted that the family, friends and neighbors were not complaining but they felt they were imposing on them anyway. return to Table of Contents

Most of the seniors interviewed spoke of having a sense of timing for knowing when their health or circumstances warranted them looking for alternate living arrangements. Often, when they thought they were becoming a burden to the family (their feeling of imposition) or the family was expressing concern about the parent living alone did the seniors concede and consider alternate housing arrangements. In the case of the only male participant, he was still able to do much of what he had always done when his wife had a heart attack and he said he had moved in order to accommodate her needs. He stated that he loved her and would do whatever it took to help her get the level of care she needed. return to Table of Contents

The seventeen seniors who were interviewed stated almost unanimously that they had no trouble accessing existing services once they decided they needed them. Based on their statements, it appeared that most of the seniors interviewed were receiving the majority of their assistance through senior services such as: Home Delivered Meals, Transportation, Congregate Meal Sites, Senior Centers, Homemaker Services, Outreach, Information and Assistance, etc. In general, the comments regarding these services were mainly positive, with seniors themselves stating that they would not know what they would do without them. The seniors also remarked how happy their children were that they didn’t have to worry about their parents as much as they may have if these services did not exist. Seniors felt relieved that they no longer had to bother their children to help them as much as before. The seniors interviewed seemed satisfied to accept "outside help", often remarking about how busy their children were. The participants seemed relieved that they could maintain a sense of "independence" by continuing to handle their own affairs with the help of available senior services. return to Table of Contents

The remarks were overwhelmingly positive in nature ("I’m very satisfied", "I’m so happy here!", "I am very content", "All my needs are met", "I feel more secure here", etc.) The one male in the focus groups was the only individual to remark how unhappy he was ("I’m tired of looking at four walls"). But even as he was expressing his unhappiness, his wife broke in and stated that he really wasn’t all that unhappy, he just missed his "outdoor activities". He agreed that he has made plenty of new friends and has quite a few new activities, hobbies and church functions. He did stand firm on the fact that he would have preferred to live where he could step out the front door (he and his wife reside in a hi-rise) and tinker with his car or putter away at yard work. He stated that he had felt that he and his wife had needed to move in order for his wife to receive the level of care she needed after her illness. He stated that he would do it all over again as he loved her very much and wanted them to be able to be together. (He had been very depressed during their separation while she was in a nursing home after her illness). return to Table of Contents

It was very clear after conducting these focus groups that the majority of seniors reached a "turning point" in their lives when they realized something must change. Much of the time, deteriorating health was the key determinant. Even if the seniors were still able to manage some of their own tasks, it seemed important to them not to become too reliant or dependent on busy family members. They tended to think of the move to housing as "liberating" in that they could still live alone and maintain a sense of independence while accepting a little more "outside help" in their lives. Finances were a determining factor for several of the seniors interviewed. As one spouse died the other was left with reduced income, making it next to impossible to maintain the costly upkeep and maintenance of a private home. It was generally commented that the seniors were feeling much less stress now that they were living in senior housing because financial burdens and overwhelming responsibilities were greatly reduced.

The majority of the participants did not speak of wanting to remain in their own homes with increased services. They seemed to sense when it was time for a lifestyle change and even though they were not happy about some of these changes, they carried through with their decision to move into senior housing. The majority also spoke of how easy it was to access assistive services once they had decided they needed them. All participants, whether from an urban or rural background, stated that they felt that the amount and types of services available to them more than met their needs. return to Table of Contents

II. To assess which unmet needs may prompt seniors to move from their homes to senior housing:

It was discovered through these interviews that it was not so much the "unmet needs" which prompted these seventeen participants to move as it was "life circumstances" (failing health, divorce, death of a spouse, etc.) The two main unmet needs that came up during the discussions were: financial inability to remain in the home and lack of yard/home maintenance assistance. Many women stated that they could not afford to stay in their own homes after their husbands died since they often lost a greater portion of their income. It is a long known fact that senior women who are widowed or divorced often struggle financially after the loss of their spouses.

In addition, many women stated that they do not have the physical strength or learned capability to maintain the yard and house. Some of the women in the focus groups mentioned that it was "man’s work" and felt they didn’t know if they could handle the mowing, snow removal, etc. The three seniors who stated they loved outdoor yard work said that when they were no longer able to get outside to do the yard work, their own home held less interest for them. return to Table of Contents

Due to time constraints it was not possible to set up a more random selection process in order to interview a larger section of the population. Focus groups lend themselves to a different kind of analysis, truly qualitative in nature. The actual words and behaviors of the participants influence the results of the survey, lending to the possibility that a wide range of information can be gathered in a short amount of time.

While the focus groups were small the seniors who participated were adamant about their views. There appeared to be a great deal of satisfaction among the participants regarding their current housing situation. It would not have seemed unusual if there had been more resistance to moving into senior housing after having spent a number of years in one’s own beloved home. And yet the seniors interviewed spoke of their apartments as "home" and seemed genuinely satisfied to have a place to call their "own".

Generally, the participants remarked that certainly they would have preferred to stay in their own homes longer if they could have because they loved it there and felt comfortable there. It did seem, based on remarks made by the seniors who were interviewed, that not long after moving into senior housing, they realized that they could enjoy life as much as or more than they had before. All seventeen participants spoke of having developed a new sense of independence, friendship and security. Their level of satisfaction regarding their quality of life, for the most part, seemed to increase as they no longer had the burden and stress of maintaining a house and yard. Many had fretted over mowing grass, shoveling snow and paying for costly upkeep.

The two unmet needs which arose from these focus groups were financial inability to remain in their own homes and the absence of yard/home maintenance assistance. It is a known fact that many seniors cannot afford to remain in their homes after the loss of a spouse as their income is reduced. The yard/home maintenance issue is prevalent today as it has been in the past, with many of the seniors speaking of a need for this type of service. return to Table of Contents

WIAAA continues to be concerned about the challenges facing seniors and the need for additional services in order to meet those challenges. WIAAA is aware that there is no financial assistance to help seniors remain in their homes after the loss of the spouses’ income, a need over which we have no control. In addition, our Agency is also aware of the need for assistance to seniors through chore services such as mowing, snow removal, light home repair duties, etc. WIAAA is willing to take a look at funding chore services in the future if additional funding were to become available, though in light of the fact that our current services remain under funded, it appears that it would not be possible to fund this service any time soon.

Our survey revealed that the knowledge of our senior services is out in the community and was easily accessed, when needed, by those who participated in this survey. Once again, WIAAA is aware that these seventeen participants were a minute sampling of seniors who move into senior housing throughout our service area. WIAAA will continue to reach out to seniors, the community and the aging network to make information available regarding our programs and funded services. It seems that it is the availability and easy access of senior services in our communities which helps facilitate the transition from one’s own home into a senior housing facility. We will also continue to advocate for additional funding and resources to help meet the needs of the growing aging population. And while this was a small sampling of seniors who move into senior housing, the information obtained seems to indicate that seniors wish to remain active, independent and self sufficient for as long as possible, relying on senior services to assist them in doing so. return to Table of Contents

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