Staffing Patterns and Professional Profiles of the Health Care Manpower

A survey of all providers of care to population aged 65 and over of four different health care delivery settings, three of them associated with The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, indicated considerable variation in sociodemographic and profession characteristics among provider types. Attitudes toward the elderly varied as well with generally unfavorable attitudes expressed toward the care of the aged and slightly less unfavorable attitudes to the aged themselves. The small numbers precluded analysis of interactive effects, but the potential effects of these attitudes on the aged population's use of health care warrant further investigation.