Ethnicity and Eldercare

Abstract

This study examines attitudes toward rest homes among elderly African Americans and Whites and their caregivers. Dislike of rest homes, preference for family care, and unwillingness to consider rest home placement are analyzed by linear structural equation and logistic regression models. Results show significant ethnic differences among elderly persons and caregivers. Among elders, African Americans are stronger in their desire for family care but dislike rest homes less than Whites do. African American elders are less willing than Whites to consider rest home placement; care-givers’differences are not as pronounced. Results suggest that the cultural preference for family care often attributed to ethnic differences is also partly determined by dislike of institutionalized care and social structural factors. The authors propose a theoretical framework that models attitudes toward health service use as outcomes of ethnicity and social structural factors and interpret the results against a backdrop of ethnic differences in historical and material conditions.