Improving Practice Through Research In and About Assisted Living: Implications for a Research Agenda

This Special Issue focuses on generating knowledge about assisted living (AL) for older people—what has been learned so far, the credibility of that information, and future directions for research. After a short development period in the 1990s, AL became an established long-term care option for seniors. The growth was fueled by the initiatives of entrepreneurs in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors and consumer preferences. Federal and state policymakers and planners, advocates, and researchers got involved later with their questions, hopes, and concerns. Although some states developed coverage for the service component of AL under Medicaid or Medicaid waivers, AL largely is a private-pay phenomenon, which limits the availability of relevant data for research. Compared to research on nursing homes, AL research remains logistically and conceptually more difficult. Consider these issues: ... By the year 2000, researchers were actively studying AL and experiencing some of these difficulties first-hand. The activities leading to this Special Issue began in the mid 1990s. A small but growing band of AL researchers began meeting at national conferences, participating together on panels, and seeking common conventions for their research. These discussions resulted in the formation of an Assisted Living Special Interest Group at The Gerontological Society of America, the formation of a Research Committee in the Assisted Living trade association, and a grant application to undertake a systematic review of the AL literature and to conduct a Working Conference on AL research. The conference, convened in June 2004, identified various strands of AL studies, and attempted to sharpen ways that future research could respond to the needs of providers, consumers, and policy-makers.