Informal Caregiving Networks and Use of Formal Services by Inner-City African American Elderly With Dementia

Informal caregiving networks are the primary source of support for elderly persons with Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia. The authors studied a group of 200 urban African American elderly persons with dementia, the characteristics of their informal caregiving networks, and patterns of formal service use to examine relationships between informal caregiving networks and formal service use. Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that elderly persons were less likely to use formal services when caregivers in the informal networks were more capable of making care-related decisions. In addition, elderly person's functional status, annual income, and Medicaid eligibility were also significantly related to their use of formal services. Practice implications of these findings are discussed.