Abstract:
The Behavioral Model of Health Services Use (Andersen, 1968; Andersen & Newman, 1973) is a frequently used framework for examining the factors that bear upon the decision to pursue and utilize health services (Andersen & Newman, 1973; Mui, Choi, & Monk, 1998). According to this model, an individual's predisposing characteristics, their enabling resources, and their degree of need combine to determine whether or not they will pursue health services such as nursing home care. The current study investigated the relations between variables predicted by the Behavioral Model of Health Services Use to influence longitudinal expectations for nursing home use among adults 50 years of age and older. Variables of interest were drawn from the 2002-2008 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and included demographics, previous health services use, possession of insurance that pays for nursing home care, social support, cognitive status, emotional health, and functional status. Results suggested that the variables selected based upon the Behavioral Model of Health Services Use exhibited a limited ability to predict changes in nursing home use expectations across time. Limitations of the current study, as well as potential areas for future studies, were discussed.
