Gender Differences in Health Care Utilization among Older Adults in Barbados
Gender, Women’s Health Care Concerns and Other Social Factors in Health and Health Care
ISBN: 978-1-78756-176-2, eISBN: 978-1-78756-175-5
Publication date: 18 September 2018
Abstract
Purpose
Barbados is at a very advanced stage of population aging. Health care services are designed to ensure universal access for all Barbadians but the contributing factors for older adults’ health care utilization are not well explored. This chapter examines gender differences in the correlates of seeking medical care among older adults in Barbados.
Methodology/approach
Logistic regression models were applied to data drawn from the 2000 Survey of Health, Well-Being and Aging of Older Adults in Latin America and the Caribbean (SABE), Bridgetown sample (n = 1,068).
Findings
Health needs, based on chronic conditions, were positively associated with seeking medical care for men and women. Different forms and directions of intergenerational support were associated with men and women seeking care. Among men, receiving financial support was positively associated with seeking care. Among women, providing financial support was associated with lower odds of seeking care while receiving instrumental support was associated with higher odds of seeking care.
Research limitations/implications
Medical care is only one form of health care use and there is no specification of the nature of care or consultation. The sample is cross-sectional and limited to older adults in urban areas. The relative importance of enabling factors and health needs, especially, may differ across time and space within Barbados.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the literature on health care utilization among older adults within developing countries and highlights the pertinence of family relations influencing gender differences in health care utilization.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by Rachadapisek Sompote Fund for Postdoctoral Fellowship, Chulalongkorn University.
The author will like to thank Winston Moore, PhD (University of the West Indies, Cavehill Campus), and Paul Kowal, PhD (World Health Organization and Research Center for Gender, Health and Ageing, Faculty of Health, University of Newcastle), for reviewing earlier versions of this manuscript and providing thoughtful commentary.
Citation
Quashie, N.T. (2018), "Gender Differences in Health Care Utilization among Older Adults in Barbados", Gender, Women’s Health Care Concerns and Other Social Factors in Health and Health Care (Research in the Sociology of Health Care, Vol. 36), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 211-233. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0275-495920180000036012
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2018 Emerald Publishing Limited