A Study of the Willingness of Elderly People to Live With Each Other

Abstract

This research project was focused on elderly p-eople and their living arrangements in an attempt to discover whether elderly people would prefer to live alone or with other elderly persons. If it was found that the elderly people interviewed would like roommates, then this would provide information which would be helpful in assessing the need for and determining the feasibility of a roommate service for elderly people. The data analysis indicates that independence is correlated with willingness to a higher degree than any other single variable. Loneliness is negatively correlated with willingness 1 but the correlation is so small it is not meaningful. An analysis of the data reveals the sample to be mostly White, Christian, female, healthy and highly independent. As a group they are not lonely and not willing to roommate: these people prefer privacy and living alone. They are not really willing to share their bathrooms, furniture or rent; however, they may be willing to help another homeless elderly person by allowing that person to stay temporarily. It was concluded that the people in the sample do not feel that they need roommates; therefore, a roommate service probably is not feasible for this group of people.Since the population studied in this project was characterized by a high level of independence, future research will be necessary to determine if a less independent population would be more willing to roommate.