The Personal, Practical and Policy Implications of Older Australians' Residential Choice

Despite ever-increasing popularity of retirement village living for older Australian adults, little is known about whether and how this might affect family visitation patterns, the provision of informal family caregiving and usage of formal instrumental support. This research examines who, paid help or family, provides instrumental support to older people living in retirement villages (n = 237) and the community (n = 338) in Queensland, Australia. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the provider of instrumental support to older people differs according to residential address. Family provides help to community-dwelling older people, whereas retirement village residents rely on paid assistance for help with everyday household chores and report less face-to-face contact with family members. These findings, implying that informal caregiving ensures regular family contact for community-dwelling older people, inform policy and highlight the need for further research to investigate how living in a retirement village might impact on care giving and family support patterns.