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With new
technology and information, more types of care can be received
in the home than at any other point in medical history.
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The
Medical Expenditure Panel Survey findings indicate that 7.2
million individuals, roughly 2.7% of the US population,
received formal home care services in 1996. Of these
recipients, 63% were over age 65 and 65% were women. |
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The
most frequently used home care services are home health
aides and homemakers, providers that frequently are not
covered by either public or private insurance (Altman and
Walden, 1993). |
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Women
were twice as likely to use home care as men. Those persons aged
85 and older, widows, those living alone, and those having
difficulties with basic daily activities were the most likely to
have a home care visit (Altman and Walden, 1993; Short and Leon,
1990). |
Generally, home care is provided to a less functionally dependent
population, compared with nursing home care, but policies have been
designed to try to encourage home care use in lieu of nursing homes,
as AHCPR studies have shown:
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Married
persons are half as likely as unmarried persons to be admitted
to a nursing home; having at least one daughter or sibling
reduces those chances by about one-fifth (Freedman, 1996).
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Generous home care programs increase the likelihood that
unmarried persons will live independently rather than live in
shared housing or enter a nursing or personal care home (Pezzin,
Kemper, and Reschovsky, 1996). Evidence was not found that these
interventions displaced informal care (Kemper and Pezzin, 1996). |
The top 3 diagnosis for men and women receiving home health care
services are:
|
Rank |
Men |
Women |
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#1 |
Heart Disease |
Heart Disease |
| #2 |
Malignant Neoplasms |
Musculoskeletal &
Connective Tissue Diseases (arthritis) |
| #3 |
Cancer |
Diabetes |
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