PREDICTORS OF THE UTILIZATION OF FORMAL HOME SERVICES BY FAMILY CAREGIVER/CARE RECIPIENT DYADS (HEALTH SERVICES).
Contributors: Florence Heller Graduate School for Advanced Studies in Social Welfare.
Published: 1996
Number of pages: 204
Subjects: Gerontology.; Sociology, Individual and Family Studies.; Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: Because of changing demographics in the United States, there is a need for research on formal service utilization by the aged. This population segment continues to grow, with those over the age of 65 expected to increase from 25.7 million in 1980 to 52 million in 2020, according to the Bureau of the Census (Himes, 1992). Presently 6.6 million elders over the age of 65 receive long-term care and most of this care is being provided by family members in the home.

Utilizing Anderson and Newman's model of health service utilization as a theoretical framework, this study determines the factors that predict the utilization of formal services and the amount of care provided by family caregivers in the home.

The informal caregiver questionnaire and the community survey of the 1989 National Long-Term Care Survey was used as a data base. A number of statistical techniques including descriptive techniques, factor analysis, regression analysis and logistic regression analysis were utilized.

Results of this research supported the expansion of the Anderson and Newman model to include the addition of caregiver characteristics and characteristics of the relationship between the caregiver and the care recipient when predicting the amount of informal care and the utilization of formal care in the home by family care recipient and caregiver dyads. There was also evidence of substitution of formal services when the amount of informal care in the home decreased.

The results of this study support the consideration of the needs of the family caregiver when allocating and reimbursing formal home services. It also supports the development of programs including family primary care models, caregiver wellness programs in industry and caregiver support groups as a means of supporting caregivers.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 57-05, Section: A, page: 2158.

Thesis (PH.D.)--BRANDEIS U., THE F. HELLER GRAD. SCH. FOR ADV. STUD. IN SOC. WEL., 1996.

School code: 0541.