Abstract
BackgroundWe sought to identify the types of care and care resources available to older Korean adults with disabilities, and document the inequality in care received according to gender, marital status, and socioeconomic status.MethodData were derived from the sixth wave of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing. The sample consisted of 946 men and women who were disabled in ADL and IADL. Generalized linear models and analyses of covariance were used to evaluate group differences in types of care received and care resources. The outcome variables were main primary caregivers, the total number of available caregivers, hours of care received per day, number of days of care, and fees paid to caregivers.ResultsIn total, 41.7% of men with ADL/IADL disabilities reported that they did not receive formal or informal care from any source, compared with 30.7% of women. Almost half (49.2%) of men without a spouse were in a state of care deficit (vs. 30.8% in women without a spouse, P < 0.001). Among care recipients, men reported receiving higher average days of care per month than women (25.6 vs. 21.2 days, P < 0.01). Both men and women received care primarily from their spouse, but adult children were more frequently care providers for older women than men. A combination of care from spouse and paid caregiver was more frequent among women. Dependent older people with high household incomes had a higher likelihood of receiving care There was the clear gradient in rate of paid formal caregivers use by household income (higher income = higher use) among women but not men.ConclusionsCare types and resources among disabled older adults appeared to be different by gender, marital status and socioeconomic status under the cultural phenomenon and contextual circumstances in the aging Korean population.
Highlights
Care is not about personal preferences, but rather is about inequalities that penetrate deeply into society
Care types and resources among disabled older adults appeared to be different by gender, marital status and socioeconomic status under the cultural phenomenon and contextual circumstances in the aging Korean population
A review of the literature suggests that personal characteristics (e.g., Jang and Kawachi International Journal for Equity in Health (2019) 18:105 gender, race, marital status, functional status, dementia, and the availability of family members) and environmental characteristics are important predictors of the receipt of formal and informal care [4,5,6,7,8]
Summary
Care is not about personal preferences, but rather is about inequalities that penetrate deeply into society. It is necessary to discuss care in socioeconomic terms, and in the context of national, ethnic, and cultural differences [1,2,3]. Many studies corroborate the caregiving profiles, inequalities in the care received by those who need it in specific social and cultural settings is a more complicated issue that requires further analysis empirically. A review of the literature suggests that personal characteristics (e.g., Jang and Kawachi International Journal for Equity in Health (2019) 18:105 gender, race, marital status, functional status, dementia, and the availability of family members) and environmental characteristics (e.g., availability of formal caregivers, infrastructural investments in nursing homes, insurance systems for long-term care) are important predictors of the receipt of formal and informal care [4,5,6,7,8]. We sought to identify the types of care and care resources available to older Korean adults with disabilities, and document the inequality in care received according to gender, marital status, and socioeconomic status
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