Health and End-of-Life Care
The Health and End-of-Life Care factor examines health care access, preventive care, insurance coverage, and usual sources of care for aging adults, as well as access to end-of-life care.
Indicators:
Generally, adults aged 60 and older who are experiencing health access challenges cite lack of money and lack of information as the most common barriers. When we look at the data by race and income, we see that African Americans and low-income aging adults are also citing lack of transportation as a common barrier.
30% of adults aged 60 and older reported utilizing the ER as an option for sickness and health advice. When we look at the data by race and income, we see that African Americans and low-income aging adults are going to the ER more for sickness and health advice compared to the White population, and other income groups, respectively.
Why do you think people choose to go to the emergency room for routine sickness and health advice?
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- ER is convenient/people can receive immediate care
- long wait times for doctor appointments
- people are uninsured
- when transportation is an issue, people need an ambulance to get to health care
- people do not have a primary care physician or a regular provider
When we look at the data by age and income, we see significant differences with adults aged 60-64 having a higher percentage of people without health insurance compared to other age groups. Additionally, low-income aging adults have a higher percentage of people without health insurance compared to other income groups.
When considering awareness, adults aged 75 and older, African Americans and low-income aging adults have less awareness of hospice/palliative care services.
When considering utilization, adults aged 60-64 had more experience with hospice/palliative care services compared to all other age groups.
