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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
James H. Swan, PhD1, Robert H. Friis, PhD2, Mercedes Guilliaum, PhD3, Wendy H. Clemeña, BS4, and Thiyagarajan Ganesh, MBBS1. (1) Department of Public Health Sciences, Wichita State University, 1845 N. Fairmount, Box 152, Wichita, KS 67620-0152, (2) Health Science, California State University, Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90840-4902, 562.985-1537, swan@chp.twsu.edu, (3) Health Sciences, California State University Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90840, (4) Cancer Clinic, Kansas University Medical Center, 3901 Rainbow Blvd., Kansas City, KS 66160
Previous work has considered need for services, including unmet need; but it has not considered reasons for unmet need. We consider two issues, money problems and problems with medical bills, reported among three groups of Hispanic elders: Mexican-Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans. Data are drawn from the National Survey of Hispanic Elderly Persons. Weighted results for the total survey sample (n=1855) showed that 42% reported money problems and 33% problems with medical bills. In the case of both, Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans were much more likely to report problems with money and medical bills than were Cubans. Controlling for functional dependence, living situation, and demographic factors, however, only Mexican Americans differ from Cubans on either financial-problem indicator. A is significantly less important as a predictor among Mexican Americans, high school education more, suggesting that financial problems do not decline as rapidly with age for Mexican Americans but that education is more important in this population in reducing the likelihood of financial problems. Financial problems explain higher levels of unmet need for homemaker services, phone checks, and senior church programs among Mexican Americans; but they do not explain the many other higher unmet needs among Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans than among Cubans. Financial issues are thus implicated in some of the diversity in unmet need across these three Hispanic groups; but there are additional cultural, geographic, and socioeconomic factors that account for such unmet need, beyond financial problems, functional dependence, living situation, age, gender, and education.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Ethnicity, Health Care Access
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.