Professional home care for the elderly: an application of the Andersen-Newman model in The Netherlands

Abstract

The Andersen-Newman model, which relates the use of services to predisposing, enabling and need-for-care variables, has not often been applied to the utilization of professional home care by elderly people, especially not in Europe. In this study, the variables of this model were used to predict the amount of professional home care used by new users of this type of care. From the data it appeared that the 'predisposing' and 'enabling characteristics' of the elderly have relatively smaller effects on the amount of professional home care used than do the 'need characteristics'. This is consistent with previous research. However, in this study the amount of variance explained by the model as a whole is considerably higher than was reported elsewhere. This discrepancy, which can partly be attributed to the utility of variables and other methodological issues, is discussed. It can be concluded that, provided several aspects are taken into account, the Andersen-Newman model seems to be an adequate framework for selecting and sequencing relevant variables in the research on professional home care utilization by the elderly.