Purpose: This study determined the psychometric properties of a variety of anxiety measures administered to older adults receiving home care services. Design and Methods: Data were collected from 66 adults aged 65 years and older who were receiving home care services. Participants completed self-report and clinician-rated measures of anxiety and…

Purpose: Although caregivers desire specific information about hospice programs, there is little descriptive information available. We characterized agencies that provide formal or informal hospice care in the United States according to four types of services considered important by caregivers: medications and treatments; rehabilitative care;…

Examined seven basis types of formal home care service providers in California, licensed and unlicensed, delivered by agencies and by individual providers. Found primary differences based on sources of payment, duration of care, supervision of personnel, and state regulation. Research has not determined differences in quality, access, and costs of…

Purpose: The Veterans Affairs or VA health care system is in the process of significantly expanding home health care (HOC) nationwide. We describe VA HHC use in 2003 for all VA HHC users from 2002; we examine whether VA utilization across a broad spectrum of services differed for a sample of VA HHC users and their propensity-score-matched…

Used data from Wisconsin Annual Survey of Home Health Agencies to describe urban/rural differences for home health care patients. Findings indicated urban dwellers were more likely to be home health patients than were rural residents. Urban home health patients were more apt to be nonelderly, male, and have "other conditions" as their…

Purpose: This research applies a stress and support conceptual model to investigate the effects of background characteristics, personal and job-related stressors, and workplace support on direct care workers' (DCW) job satisfaction. Design and Methods: Researchers collected survey data from 644 DCWs in 49 long-term care (LTC) organizations. The…

Purpose: Little is known about whether an association exists between agency ownership and length of service among home care patients with different payment sources. This study investigated how for-profit and not-for-profit agencies responded to policy changes in the 1990s with respect to length of service. Design and Methods: We examined length of…

Estimated effect of variety of factors on the utilization of home help among the elderly in Sweden using a sample (n=421) of people 75 years and older. Results indicated physical functioning (instrumental activities of daily living) and living alone were most important. (Author/ABL)

Purpose: The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has adopted two functional assessment systems that guide care planning: one for nursing home residents (the Resident Assessment Instrument [RAI]) and a compatible one for home care clients (RAI-HC). The purpose of this article is to describe the RAI-HC (often referred to as the Minimum Data Set-Home…

Examined public and private costs for nursing home applicants participating in Virginia Nursing Home Pre-Admission Screening Program. Found that applicants diverted to community care were less dependent and had greater informal supports than those admitted, and that public and private payments for community care were lower than for nursing home…

Describes a geropsychiatric outreach team that evaluated and treated psychiatrically impaired elderly (N=66) in their home. Initial diagnostic reports and three-month follow-up interviews suggested that most patients had improved or stabilized and were able to remain in the community. Intervention strategies and patient characteristics are…

Compared the informal and formal caregiving of 269 functionally impaired elderly people residing on 53 Israeli kibbutzim. Results agreed with those from earlier studies which suggested that the availability of formal resources was not accompanied by withdrawal of informal supports. (Author/BHK)

Examined differences in patterns of service use between persons with probable or possible Alzheimer's disease who lived alone (n=439) versus those living with others (n=2,026). Found that those living alone were more likely female, poor, older, and had milder cognitive impairments; less likely to use medical services; and more likely to use…

Purpose: This study analyzed the effect of consumer-directed versus agency-directed home care on satisfaction with paid personal assistance services among Medicaid beneficiaries in Washington State. Design and Methods: The study analyzed a survey of 513 Medicaid beneficiaries receiving home- and community-based services. As part of a larger study,…

Examined trends of publicly owned, for-profit providers of custodial home care. Found that restrictive public payments and lack of private insurance coverage have contributed to financial woes of providers. Suggests that changes are urgently needed which address the financing of home care. (Author/NB)