Predictors of Service Awareness: Results from a Community Survey in an Urban Area.

Abstract

We examined information seeking strategies and predictors of service awareness from a 2019 survey of Detroit area adults. Participants were age 60+ (mean age = 72.10; SD = 8.08), and most were African American (89.0%) and female (86.9%). Most (74.80%) reported finding information most or all of the time, and 87.50% reported awareness of 12 to 15 services. Respondents with more frequent family/friend interaction (OR = 2.374, 95% CI = 1.054, 5.347), greater use of information seeking strategies (OR = 1.188, 95% CI = 15 1.073, 1.315), and higher health status (OR = 3.445, 95% CI =1.625, 7.306) were more likely to be aware of needed services. Women were aware of a greater number of services compared with men (OR = 2.682, 95% CI = 1.005, 7.160), while Hispanics/Latinos were aware of fewer services relative to African Americans (OR = 0.100, 95% CI = 0.012, 0.837. Greater information seeking strategies was associated with higher awareness (OR = 1.328, 95% CI = 1.150, 1.534). Results suggest the need for particular attention to linguistically and culturally appropriate outreach strategies for people who are Hispanic/Latino and those with a low level of social interaction.