Ethnicity and eldercare - Comparison of attitudes toward adult care homes and care by families

This study examines attitudes toward rest homes among elderly African Ameri cans and Whites and their caregivers. Dislike of rest homes, preference for family care, and unwillingness to consider rest home placement are analyze d by linear structural equation and logistic regression models. Results sho w significant ethnic differences among elderly persons and caregivers. Amon g elders, African Americans are stronger in their desire for family care bu t dislike rest homes less than Whites do. African American elders are less willing than Whites to consider rest home placement; caregivers' difference s are not as pronounced. Results suggest that the cultural preference for f amily care often attributed to ethnic differences is also partly determined by dislike of institutionalized care and social structural factors, The au thors propose a theoretical framework that models attitudes toward health s ervice use as outcomes of ethnicity and social structural factors and inter pret the results against a backdrop of ethnic differences in historical and material conditions.