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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Use, type and efficacy of assistance for disability | | Author(s) | Lois M Verbrugge, Purvi Sevak |
| Journal title | Journals of Gerontology: Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, vol 57B, no 6, November 2002 |
| Pages | pp S366-S379 |
| Keywords | Physical disabilities ; Self care capacity ; Assistive technology ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | Personal and equipment assistance are often used to reduce disability. This study predicts assistance use, type, and efficacy in personal care and household tasks. Americans aged 55+ living in the community are studied using the 1994-1998 National Health Interview survey Disability Supplement. Three types of assistance are considered: personal only, equipment only, and both. Efficacy is measured by comparing the degree of difficulty doing a task with versus without assistance. Severe disability and poor overall health are associated with use of both types of assistance. For those using one type of assistance, poor health disability status is linked with personal help, but high severity is linked with equipment use. These results reflect high needs for assistance and limited potential for physiological improvement, maybe coupled with a strong desire for self-sufficiency for those who are severely disabled. Controlling for factors that route people to different types of assistance, equipment is more efficacious than personal assistance. Equipment may have distinctive technical and psychological advantages, for example, it can be tailored to a person's specific needs. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-021216271 A |
| Classmark | BN: CA: M: 7T |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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