Seniors Who Live Alone Likeliest to Rate Their Health Highly, Study Says

People over 65 who live alone were more likely to describe their health as excellent or very good than were seniors who live with others, according to a study exploring connections between older Americans’ health status and their living arrangements. Conversely, older people living with others — whether related or unrelated to them — were significantly less likely to call their health as excellent or very good, researchers reported recently in the Journal of Applied Gerontology. That may be because when seniors encounter serious health problems and mounting physical difficulties, they often stop living by themselves and choose to live with others for support, they speculated. But the researchers said they drew no conclusions about whether keeping a solitary household in old age leads to a longer life. In fact, living alone wasn’t superior in every way for people over 65, according to the study. Those who share a home with a spouse or partner were less likely to report serious psychological distress than were older people without companions, a finding that meshes with prior research. “Their physical health was better living alone rather than with a spouse or partner, but the mental health from living alone was worse,” said Judith D. Weissman, the study’s lead author. She is an epidemiologist and research manager in the Department of Medicine at the New York University School of Medicine.

Source/more: Kaiser Health News

David Wingate is an elder law attorney at the Elder Law Office of David Wingate, LLC. The elder law office services clients with powers of attorneys, living wills, Wills, Trusts, Medicaid and asset protection. The Elder Law office has locations in Frederick and Montgomery Counties, Maryland.