Is There Equity in the Home Health Care Market?
Older blacks are less likely to use nursing homes and more likely to live in the community with chronic conditions and disabilities that exceed those of older whites. Older disabled blacks also are less likely to use community based services such physician services, prescription medications, and in-home assistive devices. Lack of close geographical proximity to services, segregation in the use of services, lack of knowledge about available services, limited referrals to auxiliary services, and patient dissatisfaction, culturally insensitive care, and unfavorable provider-patient interactions are factors that explain racial differences and disparities in care. In this project Drs. Shelley White-Means and Rose Rubin explore whether the formal home health care market is equitable or manifests unexplained racial disparities in use, as found in other community-based care settings for older persons seeking health care. This research was funded by University of Memphis.
