Purpose: This study was conducted to characterize (1) the autonomy of service users, both frail elderly and of their family caregivers, in selecting Long-term care insurance services, and to evaluate (2) influencing demographic factors. The aim was to propose new directions for the care providing system.
Methods: The subjects were 1,760 users of public Long-term Care Insurance who were randomly stratified and sampled in Higashi-osaka city, Osaka prefecture. Data were collected through a mailed anonymous self-report questionnaire in October, 2001. The number returned was 1,178 (66.9%). In this study, 723 eligible cases were analyzed in separate models: 146 cases for the elderly model, and 577 for the family model. Multiple regression analysis and two-way analysis of variance were performed to identify factors which have direct and interactive effects, respectively, on the autonomy.
Results: 1) The degree of autonomy of the elderly (3.1 +/- 0.8 (range 1-4)) was high in comparison with the family (2.8 +/- 0.8). 2) In the elderly model, the ability to collect service information and the level of knowledge about the service contents had a direct effect on the autonomy. In the family model, ability to collect service information and the level of knowledge about the service contents, the degree of informing the provider of own care needs, and good relations among family members had direct effects. 3) In the elderly model significant two-way interactive effects on the autonomy were observed between the level of knowledge about the service contents and the age; attitudes of the service providers and the age or gender of the recipient; the degree of informing the provider of own care needs and the gender. In the family model, significant interactions were noted between the attitudes of the service providers and the age of the family caregiver; the level of congitive disorders of the elderly and the length of service usage.
Conclusions: It was clarified that the score for autonomy of the family was low in comparison with that for elderly, and the essential requisites of service providers for enhancing the autonomy of elderly people and families may vary depending on the basic characteristics or the situation of the user. It was suggested that support to enhance users autonomy should be provided by taking the demographic factors of the user into consideration.