The Relationship of Home Range to Functional Status and Cognitive Status of Frail Elders

Age related declines and chronic illness factors can limit or restrict the independent functioning of the elderly, especially performing such activities as traveling to visit a friend or family member, shopping, worshipping outside the home, or vacationing. To explore the relationship between traveling outside the home, which we call home range, and functional status and cognitive status, 616 older persons with disabilities from Western New York answered questions about places they visit each week and the frequency of their visits. They were also asked what places they would like to go, but don't, and why they don't go to those places. Home range was operationalized as the number of miles traveled, the number of places visited, and the number of trips taken in a typical week. We found a relationship of physical status to home range, but no relationship was found for cognitive status. Places the elderly report they would like to go but don't included leisure and social activities, shopping, traveling long distances, and worshipping. Reasons the elderly report they are unable to get out of the home include difficulty obtaining transportation, health factors, lack of companionship, and accessibility. (C) 2005 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.