Why do elderly people choose to live in a community home? A study among French population

Abstract

Considering the fact that most elderly people wish to rest in their homes for as long as possible, we have asked ourselves why some choose to move to a retirement hostel of their own free will. To answer this question, 32 semi-structured interviews were recorded among elderly people living in the region of Centre, France. The cluster analysis of the obtained answers reveals four types of profiles corresponding to people for whom entering such an institution seems to be a stage in life for which one has to prepare and be able to keep control.