Use of health services by older people

Choice in residential care

Older people requiring residential care have a choice of facility.

Number of aged residential care facilities by district health board

Map showing the number of facilities in each DHB area. For Northland, it was 24. For Waitemata, it was 60. For Auckland, it was 67. For Counties Manukau, it was 45. For Waikato, it was 57. For Bay of Plenty, it was 33. For Lakes, it was 13. For Tairawhiti, it was 6. For Hawkes Bay, it was 27. For Taranaki, it was 28. For Whanganui, it was 13. For MidCentral, it was 36. For Wairarapa, it was 13. For Hutt, it was 15. For Capital & Coast, it was 34. For Nelson Marlborough, it was 26. For West Coast, it was 8. For Canterbury, it was 84 FOr South Canterbury it was 12. And for Southern, it was 65. — Source: Central Region's Technical Advisory Services (TAS), Survey of Aged Residential Care Facilities March 2016.

Access to primary care

Almost all older people visit a GP, but a significant number experience some difficulty accessing primary care services.

While older people were generally less likely to put off visiting a GP because of cost than younger people, older Māori had more difficulty than non-Māori.

Percentage of people who visited a GP in the past 12 months

Graph showing the percentage of people in different age groups who had visited a GP in the past 12 months. For 15–24 year olds, it was 70%. For 25–34 year olds, it was 73%. For 35–44 year olds, it was 76%. For 45–54 year olds, it was 81%. For 55–64 year olds, it was 87%. For 65–74 year olds, it was 91%. And for people 75+, it was 96%.

Percentage of people who experienced one or more types of unmet need for primary health care in the past 12 months

Graph showing the percentage of people in different age groups who had experienced unmet need. For 15–24 year olds, it was 22%. For 25–34 year olds, it was 31%. For 35–44 year olds, it was 34%. For 45–54 year olds, it was 31%. For 55–64 year olds, it was 27%. For 65–74 year olds, it was 19%. And for people 75+, it was 18%.

Unmet need for GP due to cost in the past 12 months

Graph showing the percentage of people in different age groups who had experienced unmet need because of cost. For 15–24 year olds, it was 12%. For 25–34 year olds, it was 21%. For 35–44 year olds, it was 19%. For 45–54 year olds, it was 14%. For 55–64 year olds, it was 11%. For 65–74 year olds, it was 7%. And for people 75+, it was 5%.

Unmet need for GP due to cost in the past 12 months, ratio of Māori to non-Māori aged over 50, age standardised

Graph showing that unmet need due to cost was 1.8 times higher for Māori than people of other ethnicities.

Source: Ministry of Health, Annual Update of Key Results 2014/15: New Zealand Health Survey