# Access to Neighborhood Amenities and Services and the Risk of 2-Year Nursing Home Placement Among Persons Living With Dementia

## TL;DR

This study shows that better access to parks, healthy food, and home health services can help people with dementia avoid moving to nursing homes.

## Contribution

The study identifies specific neighborhood amenities linked to reduced nursing home placement risk for people with dementia.

## Key findings

- Access to park areas was associated with a lower risk of nursing home placement.
- Healthy food outlets and home health services also reduced the risk of nursing home placement.
- These findings highlight the role of neighborhood supports in enabling dementia patients to age in place.

## Abstract

Older adults prefer to age in their homes and communities, but due to increased care needs associated with dementia, persons living with dementia are much more likely to move into nursing homes. Living in communities with greater access to neighborhood amenities and supports may reduce the risk of nursing home placement by helping persons living with dementia maintain their health and independence and lowering caregiving burden and stress. This study aims to identify neighborhood amenities and services that are associated with nursing home transitions among persons living with dementia.

We used data from the 2004–2016 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), which includes 3 507 older adults with dementia, linked with the HRS Contextual Data Resource and the National Neighborhood Data Archive. Logistic regression models were estimated adjusting for sociodemographic and neighborhood characteristics.

Findings suggest that access to more park areas, healthy food outlets, and home health services was associated with a lower risk of 2-year nursing home placement.

These findings emphasize the importance of neighborhood amenities and services as essential components of supportive communities, enabling persons living with dementia to age in place.