I examine informal helpers' expectations surrounding possible strategies for
meeting long-term care needs. Data were gathered through personal interviews
with a linear probability sample of community-based elderly and their informal
helpers. I used discriminant analysis to assess the impact of caregiving demands,
assistance the elder person provided, anticipated difficulties in shared households,
competing demands on caregiver's time, and relationship to the elder on the
anticipated likelihoods of selecting shared households or institutional placements
among 255 informal helpers who would be involved in long-term care decisions.
Assistance the older person provided to the helper increased the anticipated
likelihood of shared households and decreased that of institutional placements.
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