Disparity in Home Care for Elderly Who Live Alone

Description: 

Kenneth M. Langa, MD, PhD led a team from the University of Michigan studied the differences in home care services used by people who lived alone and those who lived with others in 1993 and 995. They investigated whether the large growth in paid home care services that took place during the early to mid-1990s was targeted to individuals with higher levels of disability and lower levels of social support, groups which historically have been more likely to use paid home care services and are at higher risk for nursing home admission. The researchers concluded that the large increase in formal home care services provided during the period of their study went disproportionately to those with greater social support, and that home care policy changes in the early 1990s resulted in a shift in the distribution of home care services toward the elderly living with their children. The report is published in the February issue of Medical Care.

Kenneth M. Langa, MD, PhD led a team from the University of Michigan studied the differences in home care services used by people who lived alone and those who lived with others in 1993 and 995. They investigated whether the large growth in paid home care services that took place during the early to mid-1990s was targeted to individuals with higher levels of disability and lower levels of social support, groups which historically have been more likely to use paid home care services and are at higher risk for nursing home admission. The researchers concluded that the large increase in formal home care services provided during the period of their study went disproportionately to those with greater social support, and that home care policy changes in the early 1990s resulted in a shift in the distribution of home care services toward the elderly living with their children. The report is published in the February issue of Medical Care.