Evaluating the Impact of Elder Cottage Housing on Residents and Their Hosts

Family members who wish to have their older relatives live with them often encounter obstacles that make such an arrangement unworkable. Proponents of the Elder Cottage, and its variant, the Homecare Suite, suggest that many of these obstacles can be avoided with Elder Cottage use. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of Elder Cottages on a variety of resident and host outcomes. A nonequivalent comparison group design was used. Thirty-one treatment group residents and their hosts received Elder Cottages whereas 24 comparison group residents and their hosts remained on a waiting list. Results showed that residents using Elder Cottages reported significantly greater satisfaction with their housing, increased independence, more telephone contacts with friends and family, improved relationships with hosts, more accessible housing, and less formal service use than those in the comparison group. Similarly, hosts in the treatment group reported significantly greater satisfaction with the residents' housing and less stress in their caregiving roles than those in the comparison group. In addition, fewer Elder Cottage hosts than comparison group hosts engaged in caregiver-related driving. Answers to short-answer questions mirrored the quantitative findings. These results provide substantial optimism with respect to the Elder Cottage as a housing option for older adults, although interviews with housing specialists suggested that families will need financial and caregiving assistance for this option to be viable.