Health need differences between types of care use in later life.

What is it about?

This article aims to identify relations between socio-demographic/socio-economic characteristics and the use of informal and formal care. All analyses were performed on data from the Belgian Ageing Studies, a survey among community-dwelling older people (60+) in Belgium. Latent class analyses were used to identify types of care use and bivariate analyses were used to assess differences within these types. Eight different types were identified. Results demonstrate that the use of formal care increases with age and is not related to socio-economic status. The conclusion highlights how the complexity of different types of care use might be a challenge for our ageing society.

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Why is it important?

The population is ageing: the percentage of people older than 65 in Belgium is growing strongly (from 17.7% in 2013 to 22.6% in 2020). The amount of people aged 80 and older will also increase from 5.3% in 2013 to 6.3% in 2020, which is accompanied by a higher need of care and support. Accurate case-finding to ensure appropriate care and support for the right population at the right time is extremely important. This publication aims to give insight in profiles of care use of community-dwelling older adults in order to align preventive health actions.