Willingness to Use Formal Long-Term Care Services by Korean Elders and Their Primary Caregivers

Abstract

This study examined predictors of older adults' and primary caregivers' willingness to use formal long-term care (LTC) services to understand possible use patterns of mandatory public LTC insurance programs in Korea. It focused on views regarding who (adult children or the government) should bear the responsibility for older adults' care. Logistic regression models were estimated using data from 1,168 older Korean adults aged 65 or older and their primary caregivers from a national survey. The results showed that older adults' and their caregivers' views on care responsibility were a dominant predictor of their willingness to use both formal home care services and nursing home care services. Both older adults and their family caregivers' willingness to use LTC services should be considered when predicting demand for LTC services. Efforts should promote the perspective that formal LTC services are an acceptable social norm.

Stated preferences for long-term care: a literature review

“…Among the predisposing variables , consistent effects were observed for having children and being married/living with a partner, whereas age, gender, ethnicity and education yielded inconsistent results. Individuals with children (Iwasaki et al 2015; Kim and Choi 2008; Kim and Kim 2004; Pinquart and Sorensen 2002; Spangenberg et al 2012) and those being married/living with their partner (Kim and Choi 2008; McCormick et al 2002; Min 2005; Pinquart and Sorensen 2002; Spangenberg et al 2012, 2013) were more likely to prefer informal LTC arrangements.…”

“…Better subjective knowledge about (Eckert, Morgan and Swamy 2004; Jang et al 2008) and previous receipt of formal care services (Min 2005; Pinquart and Sorensen 2002) was found to increase the preference for formal LTC, whereas the subjectively perceived ability to obtain informal care (Bradley et al 2004) as well as the previous receipt of informal LTC (Pinquart and Sorensen 2002) increased the preference for informal care. Individuals with higher incomes or a better financial situation were also more likely to prefer informal care (Kim and Kim 2004; Kim and Choi 2008; Werner and Segel-Karpas 2014). Informal care providers differed in their preferred LTC arrangements from care receivers in sub-group (Kasper, Shore and Penninx 2000; Kim and Choi 2008; Wang et al 2004) and multivariate analyses (Khalaila and Litwin 2011; Spangenberg et al 2012), with three studies reporting a lower preference for informal care among (former) informal care providers (Khalaila and Litwin 2011; Kim and Choi 2008; Wang et al 2004).…”

“…Individuals with higher incomes or a better financial situation were also more likely to prefer informal care (Kim and Kim 2004; Kim and Choi 2008; Werner and Segel-Karpas 2014). Informal care providers differed in their preferred LTC arrangements from care receivers in sub-group (Kasper, Shore and Penninx 2000; Kim and Choi 2008; Wang et al 2004) and multivariate analyses (Khalaila and Litwin 2011; Spangenberg et al 2012), with three studies reporting a lower preference for informal care among (former) informal care providers (Khalaila and Litwin 2011; Kim and Choi 2008; Wang et al 2004).…”

Spirituality and psychological well‐being: Testing a theory of family interdependence among family caregivers and their elders

“…Thus, most Korean elderly, even those with dementia, chronic illness, or physical disabilities, live at home and are cared for by family members. Both older adults and their family caregivers are reluctant to use institutionalized or nursing homes care services (H. Kim & Choi, 2008; J. Kim & Lee, 2003; H. Lee et al, 1997).…”

What factors influence older people’s intention to enrol in nursing homes? A cross-sectional observational study in Shanghai, China

“…The significance of subjective norm corroborates prior research which found that in Eastern countries, older persons’ perceptions of what their families, friends, ministers and communities wanted them to choose would influence their decision to enrol in a nursing home. 26 27 A study on Japanese Americans estimated that 85.8% of older people would do what their family wanted them to do and 50.6% of them would follow their friends’ opinions. 28 This might be due to the collectivistic culture in Eastern Asia which makes people more acquiescent to the influence of their social contacts.…”