Targeting home care services to vulnerable elders: Massachusetts' Home Care Corporations

This investigation evaluates how successfully the Massachusetts model of home care targets services to vulnerable elders. It compares data from a random sample of home care recipients with a probability sample of non-institutionalized elders in Massachusetts. The data indicate that the Massachusetts statewide system developed under minimum regulation and decentralized management has successfully reached the vulnerable elders, particularly those living alone and the widowed. The demand for home services exists but is neither excessive nor uncontrollable. These findings support the continued use of a social model of home care delivery instead of a more restrictive medical model.