Survey and analysis on the demands and supply of the elderly care with medical support in Hangzhou

Abstract

Objective To understand the demands of elderlies in a community in Hangzhou for the elder care with medical support and the current supply, and analyze the influencing factors. Methods A questionnaire survey was conducted among 1 416 elderlies at 12 communities of 3 neighborhoods in Jianggan district of Hangzhou city, using stratification sampling. Results For the elderlies with demands for medical care, such services as medical advice in community, pharmacy in community and annual physical examination were made available and the highest satisfactions, being 70.4%, 67.1% and 64.0% respectively. In contrary, less than 30% of the rest eight medical care demands were met. For the elderlies with demands for nursing care in community, supply of nine elderly care services fell below 30%. For the elderlies with demands for rehabilitation services, supply of six community rehabilitation services fell below 15%. Age, self-care ability and the number of chronic diseases were the main factors affecting old people′s demand for medical-nursing combined care(P<0.05). Conclusions A gap is found between elderlies′ demands for elderly care with medical support and the services available. Medical care, nursing care and rehabilitation service deserve further development efforts. Those of advanced age, with declining self-care ability, and those afflicted with many diseases should attract major attention. Key words: Community health services; Elderlies; Elderly care with medical support; Questionnaire survey