Elderly Persons without Family Support Networks and Use of Health Services

Abstract

This article compares the use of health services by a random sample of 394 noninstitutionalized elderly. Elderly persons without family used hospital emergency rooms (ER) 7 to 30 times more often than elderly persons with family in the area. Differences among them for physicians' visits or hospital utilization, however, were not statistically significant. Because elderly without family in the area had similar health status as elderly with family, absence of family access to a lay referral system is thought to be the principal reason for increased use of ER services, especially for nonurgent care.