Utilization of health social work services by older immigrants and veterans in Israel

The authors examined factors related to utilization of health social work services among older immigrants from the former Soviet Union and veteran residents of Israel, using Andersen's behavioral model. A sample of 476 patients age 55 and older was interviewed. The immigrants and veterans had similar backgrounds, but immigrants had fewer resources and higher need. Veteran Israelis were twice as likely to have been in contact with a hospital social worker. Factors related to seeing a social worker were male gender, social network size (no network or large network), activity limitations, and sick days. The main barriers to contacting a social worker stemmed from information problems. The findings have implications for providing services in areas with large numbers of immigrants.