Health Service Needs from a Household Perspective: An Empirical Study in Rural Empty Nest Families in Sinan and Dangyang, China

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the health service needs of empty nest families from a household perspective. A multistage random sampling strategy was conducted to select 1606 individuals in 803 empty nest households in this study. A questionnaire was used to ask each individual about their health service needs in each household. The consistency rate was calculated based on their consistent answers to the questionnaire. We used a collective household model to analyze individuals’ public health service needs on the family level. According to the results, individuals’ consistency rates of health service needs in empty nest households, such as diagnosis and treatment service (H1), chronic disease management service (H2), telemedicine care (H3), physical examination service (H4), health education service (H5), mental healthcare (H6), and traditional Chinese medicine service (H7) were 40.30%, 89.13%, 98.85%, 58.93%, 57.95%, 72.84%, and 63.40%, respectively. Therefore, family-level health service needs could be studied from a family level. Health service needs of H1, H3, H4, H5, and H7 for individuals in empty nest households have significant correlations with each other (r = 0.404, 0.177, 0.286, 0.265, 0.220, p < 0.001). This will be helpful for health management in primary care in rural China; the concordance will alleviate the pressure of primary care and increase the effectiveness of doctor–patient communication. Health service needs in empty nest households who took individuals’ public needs as household needs (n = 746) included the H4 (43.3%) and H5 (24.9%) and were always with a male householder (94.0%) or at least one had chronic diseases (82.4%). Health service needs in empty nest households that considered one member’s needs as household needs (n = 46) included the H1 (56.5%), H4 (65.2%), H5 (63.0%), and H7 (45.7%), and the member would be the householder of the family (90.5%) or had a disease within two weeks (100.0%). In conclusion, family members’ roles and health status play an important role in health service needs in empty nest households. Additionally, physical examination and health education services are the two health services that are most needed by empty nest households, and are suitable for delivering within a household unit.

Intergenerational reciprocity and WHO function ability domains predict loneliness in older Chinese adults

“…12 With the increasing social mobility of younger people in search for better job opportunities, the number of 'empty-nest' families in China where households are without adult children or whose adult children have left their parents' home, is expected to increase to 90% by 2030 according to China's National Committee on Ageing. 13 Family fragmentation with migration and emigration of adult children has resulted in a significant drop in family caregivers for older people in the same household. 12 Adult children often fulfil their filial piety by sending financial support to maintain their parents' living conditions, but little is known about whether these filial expressions ameliorate their parents' loneliness.…”

“…In the last few decades, demographic trends resulting from longer life expectancy and shrinking family size has raised the importance of intergenerational reciprocity 12 . With the increasing social mobility of younger people in search for better job opportunities, the number of ‘empty‐nest’ families in China where households are without adult children or whose adult children have left their parents' home, is expected to increase to 90% by 2030 according to China's National Committee on Ageing 13 . Family fragmentation with migration and emigration of adult children has resulted in a significant drop in family caregivers for older people in the same household 12 .…”

Statistical Validation of LENS: Towards Understanding the Empty Nest Syndrome in India using Lyfas, an Optical Biomarker-based Smartphone Biomedical Tool

“…Cumulative or sequential comorbidities, such as diabetes mellitus [12], cardiovascular diseases [13], malnutrition [14], dyslipidemia [15], etc., menopausal or perimenopausal syndrome due to persistent estrogen (E2) depletion in the body [16], loss of jobs [17], lack of sexual intimacy [18], and so forth are related indicators to that of the ENS and its severity. Studies have found that fathers too are affected by the departure [19]. This is one side of the issue.…”