WHAT IS THE “RIGHT” NUMBER OF NURSING HOME BEDS FOR POPULATION NEEDS? AN INDICATOR DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Abstract

The need for nursing homes is increasing rapidly now with accelerating population aging and other socio-demographic developments. No indicators currently exist to specify the number of nursing home beds that should be available to meet population requirements. To meet this gap, descriptive-comparative information was gathered on the number of nursing home beds that exist in 10 Canadian provinces and 15 high-income countries and other relevant information. Major differences were found in bed numbers relative to population age structures, with a set of three median indicators (109.4, 17.5, and 4.5) developed to identify the mid-range number of citizens of all ages per nursing home bed, citizens aged 65+ per nursing home bed, and citizens aged 80+ per nursing home bed. Indicators such as these enable comparisons of actual to optimal. The devised set of three indicators should raise nursing attention to nursing home bed accessibility, and further policy and planning for the nursing home expansion required with population aging.