Ageing at Home as Preference: A Case Study of Older Spanish Population

The aim of this paper is to explore the ideal preferences of Spanish population aged 65 and over about the preferred setting to live in later life, identifying the factors that condition the election of each one of the alternatives (the own home, co-residence in a relative’s home and institutions). The results are analysed regarding to two hypothetical situations: what would be the preferred living situation in case of a healthy ageing and what would it be in case of frailty. The data for the analysis will be drawn from the survey Encuesta de Mayores 2010. The results point out that the ‘ageing at home’ option is the most desired when elderly people foresee a healthy old age. However, the order of preferences changes when they are asked about their desires in case of disability, showing that co-residence at relative’s home remain being a preferred solution to seek care and support in later life for older people in Spain