title: Service utilization among disabled Puerto Rican elders and their caregivers: does acculturation play a role?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study examined the relationship between language acculturation of disabled Puerto Rican elderly and their caregivers, their length of residence in mainland United States, and the utilization of formal services.
  
  
  METHODS
  Language acculturation was measured by language use, understanding, and preferences. The sample of this study consisted of 194 dyads of disabled Puerto Rican elders 60 years and older, and their primary caregivers in an urban center in the northeast.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Length of residence in the United States, but not language acculturation, of the disabled Puerto Rican elder and the caregiver was related to elder's use of formal services. Caregivers, whose own children were born in Puerto Rico as opposed to mainland United States, were more likely to use formal services.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Language acculturation, although a commonly used measure of acculturation, may be of decreasing importance in explaining service utilization, as bilingual services become increasingly available. Practice implications are discussed.
authors.affiliation: National Center on Women and Aging, USA.
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Calderon-Rosado
authors.forename: Allison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morrill
authors.forename: Bei-Hung
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tennstedt
mesh_terms: D000069:Acculturation; D000368:Aged; D017028:Caregivers; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D006295:Health Resources / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D011647:Puerto Rico / Q000208:ethnology*; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States