Who Uses Service Directories?

Because access to service information can be a crucial contingency for service use, this research uses the behavioral model of predisposing, enabling, and need factors to examine who used an information directory of health and human services that was distributed by mass mail. Data were collected from surveys mailed to 657 people aged 60 and older before and after service directory dissemination, and multiple logistic regression analyses examined the likelihood of different types of directory use. Respondents who were African American, were caregivers, or had transportation or personal assistance needs were most likely to seek information about community-based services. Enabling variables (directory packaging, prior service use, and awareness) and media-scanning predispositions also influenced remembering the directory and directory use for discretionary or nondiscretionary services. Although more research is necessary regarding why information is ignored or overlooked, older people are stimulated by the distribution of service directories to acquire information and to call agencies.

Food for Thought: Nourishing the Publication of Qualitative Research

In recent years, journal editors have issued loud and earnest calls for high-quality manuscripts based on qualitative methods. Yet, in reviewing the past several years of gerontological journals, including the Journal of Applied Gerontology (JAG), the authors noticed that the rate at which qualitative papers are published has held steady at modest percentages of the total number of published works. This essay explores this seemingly contradictory situation by providing insights into several key questions: Why are not more research articles published that use qualitative methods? Why is it important that qualitative researchers publish their works in applied venues like the JAG? What should authors of qualitative pieces keep in mind when developing their manuscripts?

Eligibility for In-Home Respite Care: Ethnic Status and Rural Residence

This research examined whether older adults'ethnicity (African American vs. White) and type of rural residence were associated with nurse case managers' determinations of eligibility for in-home respite care service use, after adjusting for sociodemographic as well as physical and cognitive status characteristics. This study reports the results of a program evaluation of a state Medicaid waiver program for support services. The study sample consisted of 775 older adults residing in the rural counties (63) of Arkansas and enrolled in a Medicaid waiver program for support services. Logistic regression analyses revealed that the combination of being African American and residing in rural counties of smaller population sizes combined with nonadjacency to metropolitan statistical areas were associated with a lower likelihood of being eligible for in-home respite care. The article ends with a discussion on programplanning, policy, and practice initiatives in light of the findings.

Racial and Ethnic Variations in Caregiver Service Use

Objectives: This article examines whether race and ethnicity contribute to the differential use of caregiver support services, when controlling for caregiver and care recipient characteristics, as represented by predisposing, enabling, and need factors included in the Behavioral Model of Health Services Use. Methods: The study includes 1,508 individuals who provide care to an ill or disabled adult aged 50 or older, identified through a random digit dial telephone survey of California households. Logistic regression analysis is utilized to examine factors that predict use of caregiver support services. Results: Race and ethnicity do not contribute significantly to caregiver service utilization, when controlling for relevant covarying factors such as age, education, emotional support, family contribution, care recipient service use, and care recipient impairment. A significant interaction exists between ethnicity and family closeness, with reduced rates of service use among Asian and Pacific Island caregivers whose families are brought closer by the caregiving experience. Discussion: These findings suggest that racial and ethnic disparities in caregiver service use found at the bivariate level are attributable to covarying predisposing, enabling, and need factors. Further research and theoretical development are suggested to clarify the impact of sociocultural factors on caregiver service use.