Does Long-Term Care Literacy Matter in Evaluating Older Care Recipients’ Satisfaction with Care Managers? Empirical Evidence from Japanese Survey Data

In this study, we focused on the long-term care literacy of care recipients (older adults currently receiving formal care services) and examined its relationship with satisfaction with their care managers by using a unique individual dataset of Japanese people aged 65 years and older. To address the problem of non-respondent bias, we applied inverse probability weighting and the Heckman probit model for estimation. We found that the probability of older adults evaluating their satisfaction regarding the six aspects of care manager measurement increased with an increasing level of care literacy. However, concerning the level of satisfaction with their care managers, we only observed significant increases in the aspects of “Explanation power” and “Attitude and manners” as the level of care literacy increased. Covariates, such as age, gender, family structure, level of certification for long-term care, reasons for choosing the care manager, utilization of long-term care services, and the manner in which older respondents answered the survey questions, also mattered regarding the evaluation process of satisfaction of older adults. In Japan, utilizing formal care services based on the long-term care insurance system is complicated and sometimes difficult for older adults to understand. In this survey, 35% of older care recipients had inadequate care literacy. Improving the care literacy of older adults is important for better use of formal care services and increased satisfaction.