Sources of information for home and community-based services

Knowledge of services is an important determinant of health-related service use, including long-term care (LTC) services. Policy makers and program administrators should have a clear understanding of the information sources people use to learn about the full range of LTC services. However, few studies have documented the sources of information used to make decisions about LTC. We analyzed data related to information sources collected by a random digit dial telephone survey (n=621) in Arkansas. We found respondents relied on multiple formal and informal sources to learn about services to help them or a family member remain in their home. We found that respondents turned most to family friends, physicians, the state department human services, clergy, hospital discharge planners, and Area Agencies on Aging for information. We also looked at differences of preferred sources of information by two age groups (<65 years, 65+ years), by racial groups (white, non-white), and gender (male, female). We found four significant differences by age group in information source selection; one significant difference by racial group, and two significant differences by gender group We recommend that policy makers and long-term care program administrators target the primary sources of information identified overall, and by age, racial, and gender groups to improve awareness of home and community-based service options. These findings and recommendations, along with background and study methods will be discussed in the presentation.