Elderly inner city women who return home to live alone

This study examined the status of 107 elderly inner city women who returned to their home after being in a geriatric rehabilitation unit at a large urban medical center. Prior to admission, all women had been living at home alone. After rehabilitation, 50 of the women were discharged directly to their homes, 26 followed within 3 months, 11 were back home alone by 6 months, and 20 additional women were still not home by 6 months. Results showed that, as measured by standardized assessments of physical functioning and cognition, the women who were most functionally independent returned home alone more quickly. Furthermore, those who achieved live-alone status some time after discharge (but not at discharge) did not report the same level of self-care and home maintenance task independence as women who were discharged home alone immediately at discharge. The findings raise questions about the minimum level of functional performance required to return home alone and the interaction of functional ability, assistance from others, and a variety of social and environmental factors on live alone status.