Comparison of rural and urban users and non-users of home care in Canada

Geography is considered a determinant of health because people living in rural and remote areas, compared with those in urban areas, have poorer health status and more difficulty accessing health care.

To examine the characteristics associated with the use of publicly funded home care services among rural and urban Canadians 18 years of age and over.

The Andersen and Newman Behavioural Model of Health Services Use guided the selection of variables, analyses and interpretation of the findings. Descriptive, correlation and multiple logistic regression analyses were completed on 2 cross-sectional cycles of Statistics Canada's National Population Health Surveys.

This research revealed that rural residents are increasingly less likely to receive personal care assistance, and rural home care users appear to have more resources (e.g., higher levels of education, sense of coherence) that likely influence their ability to access and receive home care services, than their urban counterparts. Rural residents without these resources may be less likely to receive home care services.