中華心理衛生協會

Purpose: In order to assess the prevalence of unmet needs in ADLs and IADLs, and identify the relevant factors of unmet needs, my study regarded ”living arrangements” as the structural indicator of informal social support networks, and considered ”the expression of unmet needs” as the functional indicator of the function of support networks. I supposed that living arrangements (structural indicators) and social support system (functional indicators) were the important predictors of unmet needs. Methods: The data which was conducted by National Institute of Family Planning, Department of Health, Executive Yuan, in 1996, and 1999. Hierarchical logistic regression model and logistic regression model were employed for the purposes of data analysis Results: Elderly people who lived alone were the highrisk group of unmet needs. However one third among them had not expressed unmet needs. Secondly, though most disabled elderly people received the care services provided from informal support system, it was about 30% among the elderly people in the community that had once experienced the situations of unmet needs. Especially when their spouse was the caregiver, the proportion of the disabled elderly who expressed unmet needs were relatively high. It implies that the situation of elderly-cared-by-elderly deserved more attentions. Conclusions: The government should provide supports for the family care system. Thus, the family can keep its ability and quality of service, and the elderly people can be taken care of in different living arrangements.