| Two major streams of inquiry have dominated the field of residential mobility in later life. The first stream focuses on migratory patterns of retirees and the second focuses on determinants of institutionalization and use of long-term care services. Few studies, if any, have wed these two streams of thought as a means of exploring residential mobility patterns of retirement community-dwelling adults. This study seeks to address this gap by examining to what extent social, health and environmental stressors experienced in late life influence whether an older person moves, and if they do move, what type of move is undertaken. The importance of social resources and proactive behaviors on residential moves is also explored.;This study utilizes data (N=619) from the first eleven years of the Florida Retirement Study, an ongoing panel study which focuses on late-life adaptation of community dwelling elderly persons (N=619, mean age at baseline = 78.5 years; SD=4.2).;Theoretical contributions from sociology (i.e., agency and structure; life course theory), demography (i.e., migration theory), and psychology (i.e., person-environment fit, stress and coping) are utilized to formulate a conceptual model of residential mobility in late life. A conceptual model is proposed to model the hypothesized paths associated with the propensity to move and, among movers, the type of move made.;The major findings of this research demonstrate that specific health stressors (i.e., falls and self-rated physical health) and proactive behaviors (i.e., marshalling support and planning for future care) are significant predictors of moving in late life. Findings also suggest a reconsideration of the tri-phase typology of residential moves that currently dominates the migration and aging literature (Litwak & Longino, 1987). Findings show that elders may make multiple amenity moves prior to moving to more supportive residential settings. Thus, several types of supportive and dependency moves may be made. Results also suggest that certain move groups (i.e., mutual assistance movers) may be particularly vulnerable to unplanned or crisis-driven moves as they approach old age. |
