Table 1 Background literature – the determinants of the receipt of HC services
Determinant of HC receipt | Study reference | Country/region | Findings (or variable used if indicated) |
|---|---|---|---|
Age | US, UK, The Netherlands, Sweden, Ontario, Finland, Europe. | Increase the receipt of HC services of any type and from any source. Together with health status, are generally used to indicate users’ need for HC services | |
Dependence on help with ADLs/IADLs | |||
Health status | US | Variables used: Self-rated health measure and a list of chronic conditions, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, and incontinence. | |
| Â | [18] | The Netherlands | Variables used: Several chronic physical and mental conditions. |
|  | [26] | Ontario | Variable used: Individual’s level of morbidity, characterized in terms of 12 clinical groupings. |
Household income | [43] | The Netherlands | Higher utilization of publicly funded HC among lower income seniors, within a system that makes copayments proportional to income. |
| Â | [20] | Finland | Higher level of utilization of publicly funded HC services among higher income seniors, without copayments by users. |
| Â | [17] | Sweden | Did not find a significant effect of income on allocation of HMPS hours, within a system that also has no copayments. |
| Â | [15] | US | Nonsignificant differences in Medicare HC expenditures according to income, using merged data from the 1995 wave of the Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest-Old (AHEAD) and the 1998 wave of the Health and Retirement Study. |
| Â | [16] | US | Lower Medicare HC expenditures for higher income seniors using the 1993 and 1995 waves of the AHEAD survey. |
| Â | [26] | Ontario | Higher receipt of and higher intensity of publicly funded HC services among adults who lived in low-income neighbourhoods. |
Living arrangement | US, Finland, Canada | Higher levels of formal HC receipt among seniors who lived alone. | |
| Â | [46] | Canada | Marital status has been found to be negatively associated with receipt of publicly funded HC. |
| Â | [42] | US | Marital status has been found to be negatively associated with any formal HC receipt. |
| Â | [17] | Sweden | Coresiding seniors were allocated significantly fewer hours of publicly funded HMPS than those who lived alone, adhering to the explicit allocation criteria for public services. |
| Â | [21] | Finland | Reported higher levels of publicly funded HMPS and HHC receipt among seniors who lived alone. |