| This research examines problems associated with the provision of housing with on-site services for two subsectors of the elderly population (defined as people who are at least sixty-two years old): functionally disabled elderly people and low-income elderly people. Given the growth of these two subsectors, current social programs aimed at providing affordable housing and/or on-site services to low-income, functionally disabled elderly people will not be sufficient to meet future demands. Knowledge of the characteristics of these subsectors can assist housing planners and policymakers in implementing or modifying the needed programs. In this research, functionally disabled elderly people are defined in terms of their need for the assistance of another person to perform activities of daily living and/or instrumental activities of daily living.;The data used in this dissertation is taken from wave six of the 1990 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census 1992f, 1993f). Quantitative techniques are used to test eight research hypotheses related to the size, financial and social characteristics, and government program participation of the functionally disabled elderly. The dependent variables, moderate functional disability and severe functional disability, are obtained using factor analysis.;Several conclusions can be drawn from this study. First, population projections, based on the latest figures from the United States Census Bureau (U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census 1996b, 1996c) show that the functionally disabled elderly population and four subsectors of low-income elderly population will experience high growth rates through the year 2011. Second, poor and near-poor functionally disabled elderly people do not have private health insurance. Third, single elderly persons who are at least seventy-five years old who live with other people are more likely to be functionally disabled than are elderly people living in other household configurations. Finally, functionally disabled elderly renters are more likely to be living in or near poverty than are homeowners. Since federal funds subsidized housing with on-site services is drying up, planners and policymakers need to look to alternative funding sources in order to develop needed affordable housing for the growing functionally disabled elderly population. |
