Disabled, Elderly Women Who Live Alone Are Less
Likely to Get Help
Who is caring for elderly, disabled Americans who live at home,
but need assistance with daily activities like bathing, eating,
managing money or taking medications? Two recent studies by
U-M Medical School researchers suggest that those who most need
help may be less likely to get it.
According to a study published in the February 2001 issue of
Medical Care, unmarried people age 70 and older who lived with
their adult children received about 40 hours a week of Medicare-
paid home care, compared with just 26 hours received by unmarried
elders who were equally disabled and lived alone.
 “Having
an adult child on hand to navigate the Medicare system seems
to have a major impact on the amount of home care the elderly
receive,” says Kenneth M. Langa, M.D., Ph.D., assistant
professor of internal medicine.
Another study, published in the December 2000 issue of The
Journal of the American Medical Association, found that disabled,
older women – whether married or single – received
about onethird fewer hours of informal home care from family
members than disabled men.
 “Providers
can’t assume that disabled female patients are getting
the care they need, even if they live with a spouse,” says
Steven J. Katz, M.D., associate professor of internal medicine
in the Medical School and associate professor of health management
and public policy in the School of Public Health.
“In the next 50 years, more and more disabled elderly
people will need help, but the number of grown children available
to help care for them will continue to decrease,” says
Katz. “This leaves health care providers and health policymakers
with the responsibility of finding the best ways to meet their
needs.”
The studies are based on 1993 and 1995 data from the national
Health & Retirement Study, a survey of more than 3,000 Americans
aged 70 and over who live in the community, rather than a nursing
home or assisted living facility. Funded by the National Institute
on Aging, the Health & Retirement Study is conducted at
the U-M Institute for Social Research.
—Diane Swanbrow and Valerie Gliem
For more information, read the complete articles on-line at:
http://www.med.umich.edu/opm/newspage/homecare.htm
http://www.umich.edu/~newsinfo/Releases/2001/Feb01/r020701.html
 
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