# PREDICTORS OF LONG-TERM CARE USE--ETHNICITY VS. CLASS

> **NIH NIH R01** · NEW ENGLAND RESEARCH INSTITUTES, INC. · 1992 · $212,535

## Abstract

Available long-term care data cannot provide a definitive answer to the
question underlying our proposed research - what is the relative
contribution of ethnicity and social class to explaining reported
differences among various ethnic groups in need for and use of long term
care services? With a rapidly increasing older population with
substantial ethnic diversity, the concern of public policymakers is with
increased demand for publicly funded long-term care services.

Projections for long-term care services can be based either on need or on
demand.  Since national data consistently show that need exceeds demand
or use, projections based on need are likely to be inflated.  The
development of accurate long-term care projections based on demand
requires a detailed understanding of factors influencing utilization.  In
the case of minority elders, the influence of social class/socioeconomics
status and ethnicity on use of long-term care services must be
disentangled.

In almost all work to date on minority elderly populations, ethnic
comparisons are inextricably confounded with social class.  Thus, we
propose a comparative observational study of multicultural population
with two important study design features: 1) Location of the study in a
community that provides equal access to long-term care (i.e., a single
entry point to publicly-funded community longterm care services available
at no cost to low-income elders) to permit the disentanglement of social
class and ethnicity; and 2) inclusion of three ethnic groups -
African-American, Puerto Rican, and White elders - to move beyond the
within-group or two-group comparisons of almost all work to date.  The
Specific Aims of the study are to: 1) Identify and describe current needs
for community-based long-term care assistance and patterns of informal
care and use of formal services within and between African-American,
Puerto Rican, and White elders; and 2) Investigate the relative
contribution of ethnicity and socioeconomic status (social class) to
explaining variability in both need for care and receipt of care -
informal care and/or use of formal services.

Detailed data regarding the elders' needs for long-term care assistance
and their receipt of informal care and use of formal services (both types
and amounts) will be gathered in telephone interviews with a
representative sample of 3000 persons age 60+ (1000 in each ethnic group)
residing in Springfield, MA. -Data will also be gathered from the primary
informal caregiver of those elders determined to be functionally
disabled.  In addition, we propose 1) a substudy to investigate ethnic
differences in self-report vs. observed functional performance; and 2)
interviews with community leaders and agency staff regarding their
perceptions of the needs for care and factors influencing use of services
by Black and Puerto Rican elders.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3123162
- **Project number:** 1R01AG011171-01
- **Recipient organization:** NEW ENGLAND RESEARCH INSTITUTES, INC.
- **SAM.gov UEI:** FFWJTXCKDLK5
- **Principal Investigator:** SHARON L TENNSTEDT
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1992
- **Award amount:** $212,535
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 1992-09-30 → 1996-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3123162

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3123162, PREDICTORS OF LONG-TERM CARE USE--ETHNICITY VS. CLASS (1R01AG011171-01). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3123162. Licensed CC0.

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