The Characteristics of Long-term Care Users

The great diversity of long-term care users and the increasing level of disability of the elderly long-term care population documented suggest that it will remain difficult and expensive to ensure access to long-term care and meet the needs of this population. Both nursing home and home care expenditures in Medicare and Medicaid are projected to double from 1995 to 2005, and efforts to reduce public costs need to be monitored carefully to ensure that this population's needs are met.

By William D. Spector, Ph.D., and John A. Fleishman, Ph.D., Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ); Liliana E. Pezzin, Ph.D., Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University; Brenda C. Spillman, Ph.D., Urban Institute. This paper was commissioned by the Committee on Improving Quality in Long-term Care, Institute of Medicine.

Contents

Authors' Note
Introduction
    Data Sources
    Defining Long-term Care Users
    Type of Care Received by Long-term Care Users
    Analytical Approach
Results
    Prevalence of Community-Based Long-term Care Among Non-Elderly Adults
    Characteristics of Non-Elderly Adult Long-term Care Users
    Formal and Informal Care Use Among Community-Dwelling Non-Elderly Adults
    Characteristics of Elderly Long-term Care Users
    Changes in Elderly Long-term Care Users Over Time
    Characteristics of Long-term Care Users by Service Type
    Elderly Persons Living in Housing with Supportive Services
    Informal Caregivers of the Elderly
    Comparison of Elderly and Non-Elderly Users of Community-Based Long-term Care
Discussion
    Availability of Data
    Estimate of Long-term Care Users
Conclusion
References
Tables: Table 1 / Table 2 / Table 3 / Table 4 / Table 5 / Table 6 / Table 7 / Table 8 / Table 9 / Table 10