An Analysis on the Needs and Influential Factors of Long-Term Care for the Elderly in Beijing

Background and Purpose:Long-term care is an integral part of health and social systems. With the acceleration of Chinese population aging, long-term care has become a hot issue in Chinese society. This study aims to explore the needs of long-term care and its influential factors for the elderly in Beijing.

Methods:Based on the cross-sectional data(N=3256) from the sample survey of living conditions of the elderly in urban and rural Beijing(2015), this study analyzed the current situation of long-term care needs for the elderly in Beijing and attempted to analyze its influential factors. Firstly, we used the descriptive statistical analysis method to describe the present situation of long-term care needs for the elderly and compared elderly from different groups interactively. Secondly, we used logistic regression to search for possible influential factors for long-term care needs, such as demographic variables, health and disability condition, family characteristics and economic features of the elderly.

Results:The results showed that overall health and function of the elderly in Beijing were in good condition, and the general demand for long-term care was low. The demand for long-term care among the elderly population varies: The demand of female elderly is higher than male, and the need of the elderly in urban areas is higher than those in rural areas. The demand of non-spousal elderly is higher than that of elderly people with spouses, and the need of older persons with low educational level is higher than that of those with higher education. The exploratory factor analysis revealed that age, self-rated health, disability and living arrangements have significant effects on the long-term care needs of the elderly. Not only the disabled elderly, but the elderly with full self-care ability have long-term care needs. Elderly women with low education, poor health and in poor economic condition have higher needs for long-term care. The most popular pattern of long-term care still tends to be family care, while food and medical services are the major needs of the elderly.

Conclusions and Implications:The above conclusions may be useful for the construction of the long-term care system for the elderly in Beijing. Home-based care should be the main style of long-term care system, while meal service and door-to-door medical service are the main development directions. Although most elderly people have been taken care of by their children or spouses, they still have great demand for professional nursing care. Therefore, institutional care and community day care can serve as supplement for home-based care. Importantly, the government should pay more attention to the long-term care needs of the oldest old and the disabled elderly, as well as some elderly people in poor economic and health conditions.