Abstract
Examining the importance of mental health care in assisted living (AL) settings, the present study examines older AL residents' willingness to use mental health services and its predictors. Data based on face-to-face interviews with 150 older residents from 17 AL settings in Florida are used in the analyses (Mage = 82.8, SD = 9.4). Multivariate logistic regression is used to estimate the likelihood of willingness to use mental health services in relation to predisposing (demographics and physical health), mental health needs (depressive symptoms), and enabling variables (social network, instrumental support, emotional support, informational support, satisfaction with support, and previous use of mental health services). Willingness to use mental health services is predicted by younger age, unmarried status, lower levels of emotional support, and higher levels of informational support. The relationship of informational support to higher willingness to use mental health services suggests that AL residents could benefit from educational interventions on late life depression.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 562-579 |
| Number of pages | 18 |
| Journal | Journal of Applied Gerontology |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Aug 2012 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported, in part, by the University of South Florida Internal Awards Program under Grant #RO 26497.
Keywords
- assisted living
- depressive symptoms
- mental health service use
- social support
