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Flagship or flagging: the impact of pension credit five years on
- Author:
- HAYES Emma
- Publisher:
- Age Concern
- Publication year:
- 2008
- Pagination:
- 36p.
- Place of publication:
- London
The report clearly shows that claiming Pension Credit is making a noticeable difference to those receiving it but the glaring problem with Pension Credit remains its low take-up level. Despite huge numbers of pensioners currently experiencing financial hardship‚ and pensioner poverty levels recently rising for the first time in a decade‚ up to £2.8billion in Pension Credit still remains unclaimed by 1.8 million pensioners. If the benefit was paid automatically‚ those missing out would be on average £1‚477 a year better off.
Community mental health service use by older adults in California
- Authors:
- KASKIE B., van GILDER R., GREGORY D.
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 12(1), January 2008, pp.134-143.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
The objective of this research was to examine older Californians who used county mental health services between 1999 and 2002. The study estimated treated prevalence rates, identified repeat service users, depicted service mix patterns and tested for differences among these service process outcomes. 36,230 older Californians who used at least one service between 1999 and 2002 were observed. Logistic regressions estimated the effects of time, geographic region, age, diagnosis and insurance status on service process outcomes across 49 county mental health departments. The number of older adults who used services increased significantly during the observation period. Odds of accessing care were higher in the state's northern region, for those diagnosed with mood disorders and Medi-Cal beneficiaries. Repeat service use increased over time, and odds were higher for mood disorders and Medi-Cal beneficiaries. Odds of one-time service use were higher for persons with dementia and other psychiatric diagnoses; mood disorders and Medi-Cal beneficiaries had higher odds of consistent and continuous service use. The counties entered a period of diversification between 1999 and 2002, and varied significantly across treated prevalence rates, service continuity and service mix patterns. The authors consider how these differences may relate to administrative polices, service management practices, local market conditions and individual characteristics, and call for future research to determine how the public mental health system can assume a more critical role in providing care to older adults.
Major depression and emergency medical services utilization in community-dwelling elderly persons with disabilities
- Authors:
- LEE Benjamin W., et al
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 23(12), December 2008, pp.1276-1282.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
The objective of this research was to examine the association between major depression and emergency medical services (EMS) use by community-dwelling older adults with disabilities. A prospective observational study including 1,444 participants age 65+ in 19 counties in three US states that participated in the Medicare Primary and Consumer-Directed Care Demonstration. Eligibility criteria included needing or receiving help with either 2+ activities of daily living (ADLs) or 3+ instrumental ADLs, and having received recent significant healthcare services use. The presence of major depression was measured at baseline by the MINI Major Depressive Episode module. EMS utilization data for the following 2 years were obtained from a daily journal concurrently completed by each subject or a caregiver. More persons with major depression (43%) than without (35%) reported EMS use. When other factors were controlled in a logistic regression model, this effect was no longer statistically significant. However, of those with at least one episode of EMS transport, the depressed reported significantly (25%) more episodes than the non-depressed. Major depression was significantly associated with more EMS episodes in both Poisson and ordinary least squares regression models. Depressed disabled older adults who utilize EMS have more EMS episodes than those without depression. This higher use may be driven in part by affective illness. Research is needed to determine whether more EMS episodes are necessary to address symptoms of major depression, especially suicidal ideation, or whether they are due to other illnesses that are exacerbated by symptoms of major depression.
Evaluation of a pilot campaign to increase the understanding and take-up of community care grants by older people in Gateshead
- Authors:
- KITT Iain, GRAHAM Louise
- Publisher:
- Great Britain. Department for Work and Pensions
- Publication year:
- 2008
- Pagination:
- 224p.
- Place of publication:
- London
This report covers a pilot programme to raise awareness of community care grants amongst pensioners and the people who support them. It is an evaluation of a campaign to increase the understanding and take-up of community care grants by older people in Gateshead
Health services use by older people with disabilities in Spain: do formal and informal care matter?
- Authors:
- ROGERO-GARCIA Jesus, PRIETO-FLORES Maria-Eugenia, ROSENBERG Mark W.
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 28(7), October 2008, pp.959-978.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
As people grow older in late life, their need for help with the activities of daily living increases. Support may be from formal care, informal care or both, and the type has different consequences for care receivers and their social networks. The aim of this paper is to examine the relationship between informal and formal care and the use of health services among older people in Spain. Using a sample of 1,148 respondents aged 65 or more years from the Spanish National Health Survey of 2003, this study analysed the association between the sources of care (formal, informal, both, or no care) and the frequency of three types of health-care utilisation: hospitalisation, emergency services and medical consultations. After controlling for sex, age, level of difficulty in the activities of daily living, self-perceived health status, and social class, it was found that older people with disabilities who received neither informal nor formal care were more likely to consult physicians than those who received informal care, but that there were no significant relationships between the type of care and health-services utilisation. The findings provide new information about the consequences of the different types of care of older people with disabilities, and suggest specifically that informal care substitutes for some tasks usually done by health professionals.
Family carers' experiences using support services in Europe: empirical evidence from the EUROFAMCARE study
- Authors:
- LAMURA Giovanni, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Gerontologist, 48(6), December 2008, pp.752-771.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
This article explores the experiences of family carers of older people in using support services in six European countries: Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Sweden, and the UK. Following a common protocol, data were collected from national samples of approximately 1,000 family carers per country and clustered into comparable subgroups to facilitate cross-national analysis. Carers' use of available support services is limited across Europe but is considerably higher in Germany, Sweden, and the UK than in Poland, Greece, and Italy. Service use is more prevalent among wives and carers with stronger support networks and less frequent among working daughters with high levels of burden, suggesting the need for a reconsideration of eligibility criteria and better targeting of service responses. Access to and use of services is characterized by a divide between carers in northwestern Europe, who experience few difficulties other than the older person's refusal to accept the support offered, and carers in southeastern Europe, where service affordability and poor transportation present remarkable barriers. Concerns regarding the timeliness and quality of support are common to all countries. European Union-wide efforts to improve carer support need to focus on improving the care system's ability to provide timely, high-quality care delivered by staff who treat the older person with dignity and respect, and to enhance cooperation between health professionals (in all countries), informal networks (especially in southeastern Europe), social services (particularly in Sweden and the UK), and voluntary organizations (in Germany and the UK).
Clergy as mental health service providers to older adults
- Authors:
- PICKARD Joseph G., GUO Baorong
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 12(5), September 2008, pp.615-624.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Older adults tend to seek help for emotional problems from clergy at greater rates than they do from other sources. However, their help-seeking from clergy is largely understudied. This study used data from the Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NORC) Demonstration Project in the US to examine older adults' patterns of help-seeking from clergy. A sample of adults aged 65 or older (n = 317) were studied to determine which factors were related to help-seeking from a religious leader. This study was framed within the Behavioral Model of Health Services Utilization. Results of hierarchical logistic regression analyses indicated that having less social support and greater frequency of attendance at religious services was related to help-seeking from clergy for this sample, while other predisposing, enabling, need and religiosity variables were not found to be related to help-seeking from clergy. Discussion focuses on the need for mental health workers to be aware of the important role that clergy play in service provision and to find ways to leverage knowledge and skills to enhance provider-clergy relationships in order to improve services that older adults receive.
The effectiveness of the PRISMA integrated service delivery network: preliminary report on methods and baseline data
- Authors:
- HERBET Rejean, et al
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Integrated Care, 8(1), 2008, Online only
- Publisher:
- International Foundation for Integrated Care
The PRISMA study analyzes an innovative coordination-type integrated service delivery (ISD) system developed to improve continuity and increase the effectiveness and efficiency of services, especially for older and disabled populations. The objective of the PRISMA study is to evaluate the effectiveness of this system to improve health, empowerment and satisfaction of frail older people, modify their health and social services utilization, without increasing the burden of informal caregivers. The objective of this paper is to present the methodology and give baseline data on the study participants. A quasi-experimental study with pre-test, multiple post-tests, and a comparison group was used to evaluate the impact of PRISMA ISD. Elders at risk of functional decline (501 experimental, 419 control) participated in the study. At entry, the two groups were comparable for most variables. Over the first year, when the implementation rate was low (32%), participants from the control group used fewer services than those from the experimental group. After the first year, no significant statistical difference was observed for functional decline and changes in the other outcome variables. This first year must be considered a baseline year, showing the situation without significant implementation of PRISMA ISD systems. Results for the following years will have to be examined with consideration of these baseline results.
Intentions to seek (preventive) psychological help among older adults: an application of the theory of planned behaviour
- Authors:
- WESTERHOF Gerben J., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 12(3), May 2008, pp.317-322.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
The study is carried out from the theory of planned behaviour and distinguishes attitudes (psychological openness), subjective norms (indifference to stigma), and perceived behavioural control (help-seeking propensity) in explaining behavioural intentions with regard to seeking preventive and therapeutic psychological help. One hundred and sixty seven Dutch adults between 65 and 75 years of age filled out a questionnaire measuring these concepts. Results found older adults have low intentions to seek professional help for psychological problems. Their intentions to use preventive help are somewhat higher. Older adults are rather indifferent to stigma and they perceive control, but they are less open to professional help when it comes to their own person. Regression analyses revealed that psychological openness and help-seeking propensity are related to intentions to seek preventive and therapeutic help.
Invisible older men: what we know about men's use of health care and social services
- Authors:
- KAYE Lenard W., CRITTENDEN Jennifer A., CHARLAND Jason
- Journal article citation:
- Generations, 32(1), Spring 2008, pp.9-14.
- Publisher:
- American Society on Aging
Reaching and properly serving older men can be a challenge for practitioners. This article discusses ways to reach this population, and why many health care and social service practitioners continue to use methods of outreach that may prove ineffective or even put older men potentially at risk.