Majority of Seniors Would Prefer Living Aboard Cruise Ship to Assisted-Living

According to a study released at the American Geriatrics Society Annual Meeting, the majority of seniors would rather spend their latter years aboard a cruise ship than in an assisted-living facility. ; The study is a follow-up to research examining the feasibly of « cruise ship care » for seniors, which was published in the November, 2004 issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. ; In that study, lead author and geriatrician Lee Lindquist, MD, of Chicago‘s Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, compared the costs and services at assisted-living facilities and on cruise ships. ; Like assisted-living facilities, ships provide services older patients need, including meals, escorts to meals, and 24-hour access to medical staff, she found. And, over a 20-year period, costs of living on a cruise ship are comparable to the costs of most assisted-living facilities-about $3,000 per month. ; In the follow-up study, Dr. Lindquist and colleagues interviewed 56 older adults, ages 55 to 94, living in the community or in assisted-living facilities, and found that 51.8 percent would rather live at sea on a cruise ship than ashore in assisted living. Younger interviewees were keener on the idea: the main age of those favoring the