Determinants of service awareness among the Japanese elderly

Although considerable research has been conducted on service awareness amon g older adults in the United States and Canada, little data are available o n service awareness among elderly in other nations. This study examined ser vice awareness among 474 randomly selected elders in Japan. Awareness of fo ur services mandated under the newly implemented Gold Plan was examined. Th e majority of elders were aware of in-home support services, whereas only h alf were aware of day care and respite services. Although close-kin network s have been found to inhibit service awareness among elders in the United S tates, logistic regression analysis revealed that gender and social support networks were the strongest predictor of overall service awareness among J apanese participants. Cultural implications of the findings are discussed.