Massage Therapy Visits By The Aged: Testing A Modified Andersen Model

Understanding profiles of older individuals, who use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) services, continues to remain under researched. Towards better understanding massage therapy (MT) user profiles, this study tested a modified version of Andersen's Health Behavior Model. Respondents represented an elderly sample (aged 60+) that resided within a large urban city. Using a quantitative method, data were gathered over a period of 6 month. Bivariate analysis suggest that inequalities exist within the sample obtained whereby the ability to access certain health care resources which are not publicly funded, such as massage therapy, varies according to one's socioeconomic status. This is further supported using binary logistic regression, whereby being self- employed, one's employment situation and household income where strong predictors of MT use status. One's health network and having back problems also emerged as significant predictors of MT use. Overall findings suggests that Andersen's Model is useful towards gaining an improved understanding of older users of MT.

Autorentext

Pictured here with his wife Qing, Dr. Kevin Donald Willison was born in Orillia Ontario (Canada)and is a 2009 University of Toronto (Canada) Ph.D. graduate from the Department of Social and Behavioural Health Sciences, Graduate Department of Public Health Sciences, (http://www.sph.utoronto.ca/). See URL: http://myprofile.cos.com/kdwillison.