Diagnostic Assessment and Treatment Service Utilization Among Alzheimer's Disease Clients in California

Publication Date: January 1994

Publisher: Pardee Rand Graduate School

Author(s): Carolinda Douglass

Research Area: Health

Type: Report

Coverage: California

Abstract:

This research uses data from the California Alzheimer's Disease Diagnostic and Treatment Center (ADDTC) program on 737 patients treated for the disease to determine the significant client, caregiver, and societal characteristics associated with health and social service utilization one year after service recommendation. It finds that client ethnicity and former employment were predictive of use of some services, that few client-need characteristics were predictive of service use, and that clients seen at southern California sites were more likely to use social services and less likely to use medical services than those seen at northern California sites. The results question the heavy emphasis on diagnosis and assessment by the ADDTC, since the process does not seem to bring about significant change in the utilization of health services.