Dera Colleagues
Some of you may be interested in the following paper, which is available free on-line from
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/cru/resfinds/hcc7-00.asp
Best wishes
David McDaid
LSE Health and Social Care
Health and Community Care Finding no 7
Demand for, and utilisation of, personal-care services for the elderly
Sally C. Stearns and Suzanne Butterworth Health Economics Research Unit, University of Aberdeen
This document is also available in pdf format (64k)
This research explores the anticipated demand for personal care by elderly disabled persons in private households in Scotland and the potential increase in demand that may arise from substitution effects due to the introduction of free personal care.
Main Findings
Overall, the proportion of the population aged 65 or older that is disabled appears to have decreased between 1985
and 1997. The best estimate is a reduction of 0.3 percentage points per year in the UK, although evidence indicates that
the rate may have been slightly greater in Scotland.
Approximately 19 percent of the disabled elderly in private households require help with daytime personal care tasks,
and about half of those requiring assistance require it every day. Fifteen percent require help with night-time
personal-care tasks, and about 28 percent of those requiring assistance require it every night.
Levels of reported unmet need for personal care do not exceed 10 percent. Cost is not the most commonly reported
cause of unmet need. Not knowing help was available, not knowing where to find help, or wanting to help one's self
were reported more often.
Among disabled persons aged 65 to 74 residing in private homes, spouses provide the most help with personal care,
even for the severely disabled. The proportion of help with personal-care tasks provided by a spouse declines
substantially with age, reflecting either loss of spouse or increasing incapacity of one's spouse.
Informal caregivers besides spouses provide a modest proportion of help with tasks among the young elderly, but the
amount increases substantially with the disabled person's age.
Formal caregivers provide roughly 50 percent of personal care during the daytime, particularly for severely disabled
people and the oldest groups. A smaller proportion of night-time tasks are covered by formal care providers.
Less than five percent of disabled people in private households report paying for personal-care tasks. Payment by
people reporting high levels of assets is only slightly higher at 6.5 percent.
An analysis of use of eight categories of aids and adaptations showed that reported unmet need was substantially higher
for accommodation adaptations than for any other category, and that co
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