| Guided by the Andersen Behavioral Model, a secondary data analysis of the 1988 "National Survey of Hispanic Elderly People" (NSHEP) was performed to explore two overarching questions: (1) What predisposing, enabling, and need factor variables have significant direct effect on formal and informal long-term care services use among Latino elderly? and (2) What predisposing, enabling, need, and long-term care services use variables have significant direct effects on psychological well-being (PWB) among Latino elderly?;The survey data reflected a nationally representative sample of Latinos age 65 and over. Originally collected by Westat, Inc. for the Commonwealth Fund Commission on Elderly People Living Alone, as an extension of the 1986 "National Survey on Problems Facing Elderly Americans Living Alone," the NSHEP was designed specifically to investigate problems of the elderly Latino population. The study population consisted of a weighted sample of 1,857 Latino elderly of which 67.2% were Mexican-American, 19.2% were Cuban, and 13.6% were Puerto Rican.;First, this study examined the direct effects of five exogenous variables (age, education, English proficiency, household size, and number of children) and four endogenous variables (contact with children, income, functional limitations, health status) on formal and informal long-term care services use; and, second, the direct effects of these and, in addition, the endogenous variable formal and informal long-term care services use on psychological well-being. Two measures of psychological well-being were used: life-satisfaction and positive/negative affect. The data were analyzed for all Latino elderly in the study, and also by ethnicity, gender, marital status, birthplace, and living arrangements.;The study found that overall need variables are the strongest and most consistent determinants of both use of formal and informal long-term care services as well as psychological well-being. In addition, being non- or limited English-speaking emerged as an important barrier to use of formal services. Further, use of formal long-term care services was found to signficantly increase both life-satisfaction and affect among Latino elderly more often than use of informal long-term care services. |
