The Social Service Utilisation Behaviour of USA Mainland Puerto Rican Elderly: A Causal Model

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Abstract
This study develops and tests a causal model of social service use by USA Puerto Rican elderly. Andersen and Newman's Health Framework was employed to classify and test a model of social service use by a national random sample of mainland USA Puerto Rican elderly. The findings indicate that 7 of the original 27 variables (i.e. need for social services, awareness, functional literacy, functional ability, mobility, income and contact with friends and neighbours) accounted for 43% of the variance in use. Counter to our theoretical assumption the need factor accounted for more variance than the enabling factor. Moreover, the predisposing factor and informal support variables were important predictors of utilisation.