As the medical community weighs the best options for ensuring the health and safety of older adults, many professionals point to multigenerational living as a viable model.
In 2019, a study by the Pew Research Center found that 27 percent of individuals over 60 live alone. This happens to be an age associated with increased health risks, among them obesity, cancer and heart disease. Loneliness, depression and other mental health conditions are also prevalent among older adults.
Multigenerational living arrangements – living with children and grandchildren – have been shown to have positive impacts on older adults. A recent study published by the International Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease found that patients who lived with family were more likely to self-report good psychological well-being than those who lived alone. This is in line with a more general tendency for living alone to negatively affect physical and mental health.
These factors could contribute to the findings of a correlational study – led by Peter Muennig, an associate professor at Columbia University, and published in SSM - Population Health – that found “Healthy people living in two-generation households have longer survival than healthy people living on their own.”
Muennig, in the study, points out a number of factors that could lead to this outcome, including family members supporting the health and finances of their older relatives. Wealth is more likely to be shared among a family living together rather than separately, he writes.
Multigenerational living can also be beneficial to other family members. Children whose grandparents live with them and provide child care have been shown to have better health and diets, with only 13 percent of these children being overweight, according to a study from The National Library of Medicine.
Elliot Fryman is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com