Analysis of The Demand for Older Adult Care Services and Related Influencing Factors Among Older Adults Living Alone in China

Abstract

Background: The number of older adults living alone in China is rising sharply and their care needs have become an increasing public health concern. This study aimed to explore the anticipated living arrangements and demand for home and community-based care services (HCBS) of older adults living alone and examine the related influencing factors.Methods: The data of 2217 participants living alone were extracted from the 2018 Chinese Longitudinal Health Longevity Survey (CLHLS). A chi-square test was used to examine the differences in older adult care services between respondents with different characteristics. Using the Andersen model as the analysis framework, multinomial and binary logistic regressions were used to analyze the influencing factors of anticipated living arrangements and HCBS, respectively. Results: 75.4% of the respondents hoped to maintain living alone when considering the future. Those who were older, had more children, income source was family members, always felt lonely and isolated and had limitation in activities of daily living (ADL) were inclined to choose the arrangement of “co-residence with children”. Childless and loneliness had significant impact on older adults’ willingness to live in institution. There were significant differences between urban and rural areas for provision of HCBS and the demand exceeds supply in all service types. Those who were younger, lived in urban areas, farmers, income source was family members, had poor economic status, had access to social services, with higher sense of loneliness and chronic diseases tend to show anticipated demands for various HCBS.Conclusions: The demand for older adult care services were affected by predisposing, enabling and need variables. There is a need for an overall improvement of the community care system to create a supportive environment for older adults living alone.

Research on the health status and influencing factors of the older adult floating population in Shanghai

“…(2) The health status of divorced older adults is better, their self-perception of health is the best, and it is relatively close to the actual illness situation. (3) The illness rate of remarried older adults is the highest, but their self-perception of health is much higher than the actual illness situation. This is mainly related to the greater twists and turns of remarried older adults in marriage, the relatively complex relationship among family members, changes in diet structure and lifestyle, etc.…”

“…The academic community has conducted comprehensive research on the health status of the older adult floating population and the factors that influence it. Current research on the health status of the older adult floating population primarily uses self-assessed health, chronic disease, and daily living self-care abilities to measure health levels, with some researchers focusing on mental and social health (3,4). Among these, the self-assessed health indicator not only reflects the comprehensive status of subjective and objective, past and present health, but also includes future health status, resistance to disease, and the degree of concern about health (5).…”