Although adult foster care in Oregon is a real alternative to nursing homes, it by no means replaces them.
The widespread acceptance of adult foster care homes in Oregon is underscored because more private-pay residents use them than Medicaid-supported clients do.
Because adult foster care in Oregon is a large, mature program serving people with a wide range of incomes and disability levels, it provides an opportunity to investigate issues surrounding the decision to enter a foster home compared to a nursing home.
The resulting sample for analysis consisted of 439 respondents, 260 adult foster care residents (or 64 percent of the original sample) and 179 nursing home residents (or 45 percent of the original sample), a difference that reflects the much higher levels of cognitive impairment measured among the nursing home residents.
We used frequencies and percentages to describe demographic characteristics of both adult foster care and nursing home respondents and to summarize findings related to influences and circumstances surrounding the decision to move.
Respondents in nursing homes and adult foster care were similar in demographic characteristics: Most were female, currently not married, ages 75 to 84, and overwhelmingly white (97 percent, not in table).
Because the relationship between perceived control and the dependent variables was significant for the adult foster care residents, we ran an interactive model to test the hypothesis that control might have a greater effect on those who considered more than one home as an alternative.
The study shows substantial differences between interviewable residents in adult foster care and interviewable residents in nursing homes in the circumstances precipitating the move, the nature of the search, in perceived control, and in the attributes of the setting deemed important.
Community mental health boards are not fulfilling their statutory duty of giving priority to those most seriously mentally ill because they warehouse these people in
adult foster care homes, which have been the repeated subject of scandals, that fail to provide services commensurate with need and are not properly supervised by the state.
Memorial contributions may be made to Reynolds
Adult Foster Care, 690 Palomino Drive, Eugene, OR 97401.
