Abstract:

The use of community-based in-home & out-of-home long-term care services was examined using a model emphasizing the effects of disease, disability, & functional limitation to analyze 1984 baseline interview data from 7,527 blacks & whites, ages 70+, who participated in the Longitudinal Study on Aging. Analysis revealed that use of out-of-home services was influenced by sociodemographic & economic factors. Health-status constructs did exert major influence on use of in-home services, particularly for white males & females. Basic-activities-of-daily-life measures were significant predictors among whites, but not among black females, of in-home long-term care use. Long-term care services are discussed as being used by the special groups to which they are targeted, eg, those living alone, but not being used by other groups, such as the poor. Expanding the supply of long-term care services could exacerbate the existing disparities in service use.