The study tested the Andersen-Newman causal model of social service use as a means of determining patterns for social service use by Mexican American elderly. The model was shown to have applicability for identifying common and unique determinants of service use. Thirty-seven variables and data from a 1979-80 15-state survey were selected to form…

The study found distinctly different interrelationships among factors affecting social service use by Mexican American, Puerto Rican, and Cuban elderly. Twenty-nine variables and data selected from a 1979-80 15-state survey of 1,805 noninstitutionalized Hispanic individuals aged 55 and over were categorized by the Andersen-Newman model of service…