Use of Long-Term Care Services by Older Persons with Limited English Proficiency

ABSTRACT

Older migrants face special difficulties in the access and use of long-term care services and supports (LTSS). Our study was designed to examine how older persons with limited English proficiency (LEP) in two groups of migrants (Spanish or Chinese speaking) interact with the LTSS system. Focus groups were used to elicit information from members of these groups. We discovered Chinese elders were likely to believe that the LTSS services could, if managed properly, meet their needs, while the Spanish speakers were more skeptical. These differences were associated with the presence of trusted intermediaries among the Chinese elders who could represent their interests, while most Spanish speakers did not report having such intermediaries. In this way, trust, or lack of it, was uncovered as the key element defining older adults’ interactions with the formal health and social service systems. Findings will be used to develop a modeling method that will allow us to analyze results in a manner that can be extended to use with other migrant groups.

KEYWORDS:

• Chinese Mandarin
• immigrants
• limited English proficiency
• long term care
• Puerto Ricans

Acknowledgments

The authors express our appreciation to the Borchard Foundation Center on Law and Aging for funding the grant “Modeling Pathways to Access of Long Term Care Services and Supports among Limited English Speaking Elders.” Many of the ideas presented in this article are based on findings from that study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data availability will be decided on a case by case basis. Please contact first author.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Borchard Foundation Center on Law and Aging.