Only Half of Older Adults Worldwide Receive Care, Study

Just 50 percent of older adults face difficulty or receive help with daily chores, a new study has revealed.

It is challenging to meet the healthcare needs of the older adults. According to the World Health Organization, nearly 600 million people are aged 60 years and above worldwide and this number is expected to double by 2025. But, just 50 percent of the older adults face difficulty or receive help with their daily chores, a new study has revealed.

Researchers at the University of Michigan and the Urban Institute based their finding on the evaluation of data on older adults from the Medicare enrolment files. This included 8,245 people who were a part of the 2011 National Health and Aging Trends Study. The researchers found that 11 million older adults receive help with their daily activities.

"Although 51 percent reported having no difficulty in the previous month, 29 percent reported receiving help with taking care of themselves or their households or getting around," said U-M researcher Vicki Freedman, co-author of the report with the Urban Institute's Brenda Spillman. "And another 20 percent said they had difficulty carrying out these activities on their own."

Among those seniors receiving help, it was seen that 1 in four resided in a supportive care setting, i.e. 15 percent of the seniors; or in a nursing home, i.e. 10 percent.

Among older adults belonging from low income backgrounds, severe disability was seen as a common factor. An unbalanced number of low-income adults got help with three or more self-care or mobility activities in settings other than the nursing homes.

Almost all the seniors had a minimum of one possible informal care network member and the average network size was four individuals. The informal care network member was either a family or close friend or a household member.

An average of 164 hours of care a month was received from informal caregivers by the older adults who lived in a community, while those living in supportive care setting received just 50 hours of informal care per month.

Nearly 70 percent of the adults who got help received assistance from family, friends and other unpaid caregivers, while 30 percent of the adults got paid care.

"Unmet needs, especially among those receiving paid assistance, were sizable. Among the 18 million who had difficulty or received help, 30 percent had an adverse consequence in the last month related to unmet need," said Spillman. "Among community residents with a paid caregiver, the figure was nearly 60 percent."

The finding was published in the issue of Milbank Memorial Quarterly.