An Exploratory Study of Preparation for Future Care Among Older Latinos in Utah Lucy Delgadillo Utah State University Silvia So ¨ rensen University of Rochester Medical Center Daniel C. Coster Utah State University ABSTRACT: Preparation for future care by 62 Latino elders was examined and com- pared to an Anglo sample of 288 elders residing in Utah. Latino older adults preferred relatives for help and assistance, but 91% of them (versus 41% for the Anglo sample) did not have any concrete plans for either short-term or long-term care. Logistic analy- ses show that age and knowledge of services are significantly related to planning for care, but education and filial obligations are not. Furthermore, ethnicity significantly predicted long-term care planning when its interactions with age and knowledge of services are accounted for. Knowledge of services and age played a greater role in facili- tating preparation for future care for Latinos than for Anglos. KEY WORDS: aging; care planning; filial obligations; knowledge of services; Latinos. It has been widely documented that the risk for illness increases in old age. For example, Jette (1996) estimates that the majority of older persons (84%) have at least one chronic disease and many have sev- eral chronic conditions that may lead to limitations in everyday func- tioning (Hobbs & Damon, 1996). Although data on the health and care needs of older Latinos 1 are scarce, the evidence suggests that the needs of this population exceed those of the Anglo older adults (Tre- vin ˜ o, 1988). For example, Latino elderly in the Southwest U.S. have considerably higher rates of certain chronic diseases (Sennot-Miller, May & Miller, 1998). Although some Latino groups (e.g., Cuban Ameri- Lucy Delgadillo, Utah State University, 2905 University Boulevard, Logan, UT 84322-2905; e-mail: lucyd@cc.usu.edu. Silvia So ¨rensen. University of Rochester Medical Center, 300 Crittenden Boulevard, Rochester, NY 14642-8409; e-mail: silvia_sorensen@urmc.rochester.edu. Daniel C. Coster, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322-3900; e-mail: coster@math .usu.edu. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Vol. 25(1), Spring 2004  2004 Human Sciences Press, Inc. 51