Projections of housing disruption among adults with mental illness who live with aging parents

OBJECTIVE: The need to plan for the future housing needs of adults with serious mental illness who reside with aging parents is an issue of increasing importance to mental health policy makers as well as family members. This study provides estimates of the number of adults with severe and persistent mental illness in New York State who could be expected to experience housing disruption because of their parents' death. METHODS: Demographic modeling methods were applied to data from a variety of sources, including surveys of mentally ill adults receiving public mental health services in New York State and demographic statistics on the general state population. RESULTS: An estimated 13,400 to 49,600 adults with severe and persistent mental illness who receive services from the public mental health system in New York State reside with one or both parents. Within this group, between 300 and 1,200 adults could have been expected to experience housing disruption due to parental death each year between 1990 and 1994. Demographic trends indicate that through 2009, these disruptions will increase at a faster rate than growth in the state's general adult population. CONCLUSIONS: Additional housing with mental health supports and other programs will be needed to accommodate the growing number of severely mentally ill adults whose housing may be disrupted because of the death of their parents.