Associations between education and need for care among community dwelling older adults in Iceland.

• Published in: Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences
• Main Authors: Chang, Milan, Geirsdottir, Olof G, Sigurdarsdottir, Sigurveig H, Kåreholt, Ingemar, Ramel, Alfons
• Other Authors: 1Faculty of Health Promotion, Sports and Leisure Studies, School of Education, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland. 2The Icelandic Gerontological Research Institute, National University Hospital of Iceland & Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland. 3Unit for Nutrition Research, National University Hospital of Iceland & Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland. 4School of Social Science, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland. 5Institute of Gerontology and Aging Research Network, School of Health and Welfare, Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2020
• Subjects: community dwelling; education; formal care; informal care; need for care; Aldraðir; Heimaþjónusta; Öldrunarþjónusta; Heimahjúkrun; Menntun; Aged; Home Care Services; Home Nursing; Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2336/621292; https://doi.org/10.1111/scs.12685

To access publisher's full text version of this article click on the hyperlink below Background: Older adults in Iceland have good access to social services that support them in maintaining an independent life, although receiving informal care is common for community living older adults in Iceland. The aim of this study was to examine whether the need for care as well as receiving formal and informal care is associated with education among older adults in Iceland. Methods: Among a national sample of 782 Icelandic community dwelling old adults (mean age 76.9 ± 7.4 years, 55% women), a telephone survey was conducted. The survey included questions on: socioeconomic status, social network, health status, activities of daily living and formal/informal care. Results: A full data set was available for 720 subjects and among these, 349 (48.5%) had no need for care, 197 (27.4%) received informal care only, 31 (4.3%) received formal care only, and 143 (19.9%) received both type of care. Participants with higher education were significantly less likely to need care (OR 0.67, 95% CI, 0.47-0.97, p = 0.031) when compared with those who had primary education. Categorisation by age showed that this difference was only significant in participants younger than 80 years. Education was not related to formal care, but adults with higher education were less likely to receive informal care compared with older adults who had primary education (OR: 0.65, 95%CI: 0.46, 0.93, p = 0.018). Conclusions: People with higher education were significantly less likely to need care and this association was mainly present among those aged below 80 years. Further, in participants that needed care, the likelihood of receiving informal care was lower in highly educated participants, but no differences in formal care were observed between educational levels. NordForsk