Abstract:

Examines the effects of social supports on the use of health services by elderly individuals, & whether those effects differ by race or gender, based on data from the baseline Longitudinal Study on Aging (N = 5,095 respondents). Multiple regression analysis reveals that social supports, mainly church attendance, increased the regression coefficients when estimated separately within race & gender groups in a statistically significant manner. The magnitude of these increases, however, was small, suggesting that their unique contribution may be minimal. The effects of the social support variables on the use of health services differed by race & gender. These differences, however, were not consistent across the various measures of health services utilisation.