Effects of a Medicare, Medicaid and Private Health Insurance Program on Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Elderly Citizens
Williams, Deloris Green
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/71070
Description
Title
Effects of a Medicare, Medicaid and Private Health Insurance Program on Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Elderly Citizens
Author(s)
Williams, Deloris Green
Issue Date
1986
Department of Study
Health and Safety Studies
Discipline
Health and Safety Studies
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Gerontology
Education, Health
Abstract
The major purpose of the study was to evaluate the effects of the University of Illinois' Medicare-Medicaid Consumer Health Information Education Program developed for elderly citizens in two Cooperative Extension regions in North Central and Southern Illinois. Another purpose was to devise a valid and reliable instrument for assessing elderly citizens knowledge of Medicare, Medicaid, private health insurance and attitudes toward health care and health insurance.
A multistage cluster sampling technique was used to select subjects for this study. Subjects consisted of 321 senior citizens who took part one, and 143 who took part two of the pretest phase, and 268 who participated in the posttest phase. The intervention was presented by indigenous community workers, and by members of the University of Illinois Department of Health and Safety Education and the University of Illinois Cooperative Extension Service, over a three-month period.
A 96-item two part Pretest Survey and a 66-item Posttest Survey were utilized to assess knowledge and practical understanding of Medicare, Medicaid, private health insurance, and attitudes toward health care and health insurance. Experts in the fields of insurance and educational testing were consulted in the development of the instrument.
The research design for the study was the pretest-posttest one-group design. Quantitative techniques included descriptive analysis of sociodemographic data from the pretest, and application of an independent t-test and one-way analysis of variance to determine the level of significance of the Pretest-Posttest assessments. Qualitative findings were also analyzed.
The major findings of the study were: (1) The two survey instruments were found to be valid and reliable. (2) Elderly citizens demonstrated significantly higher knowledge and practical understanding of Medicare and private health insurance on the Posttest. (3) Elderly citizens demonstrated significantly more positive attitudes toward health care and health insurance on the Posttest. (4) Elderly citizens did not demonstrate significantly greater knowledge of Medicaid on the Posttest.
The results of this study suggest that the University of Illinois' Consumer Health Informational-Educational program is an innovative approach and has the potential for improving elderly citizens knowledge and practical understanding of Medicare and private health insurance, and attitudes concerning health care and health insurance.
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