Aged Care Services Research Articles

A Study on Payment Willingness and Influencing Factors of Elderly People under the Home Community Elderly Care Model

The aging situation in our country is severe, and the aging process is accelerating. It is expected that by 2040, the proportion of elderly people aged 65 and above will reach 20% of the total population in the country. The number of elderly people is growing at a rate of 5% every year, and the proportion of elderly care will reach about 28%. The pressure of elderly care is heavy. And with the change of Chinese people's health concepts, the social family model is increasingly inclined towards miniaturization, and the living standards are constantly improving, which has put forward more diverse demands for the functions and operation of the new elderly care service model. This article takes elderly people aged 60 and above as the research object, adopts field research method, starts from the willingness of elderly people to pay for home-based community elderly care services, further understands the current situation of home-based community elderly care service models, and finally analyzes the questionnaire results and interview content, discusses the factors affecting the overall willingness to pay of elderly people, hoping to provide scientific basis for the pricing of current home-based community elderly care service projects.

Practical Exploration of Talent Cultivation for Smart Healthy Aging Serviceand Management Professionals

With the accelerated aging of China's population, the development of the profession of intelligent healthy aging service and management has received increasing attention. This paper discusses the background of this specialty, the list of competencies of professionals and the practical strategies of talent cultivation, aiming to improve the quality of professional talent cultivation. By analyzing the cultivation strategies of key competencies such as geriatric health assessment, smart elderly care technology application, elderly care service planning and management, psychological support as well as innovation and learning ability, the study emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary curriculum integration, internship and practical training enhancement, industry-university-research cooperation and case study teaching.

Opportunities and challenges of integrating artificial intelligence in China's elderly care services

The challenge of elderly care presents a formidable task, demanding the collective attention of governmental bodies and diverse sectors of society. The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the research and development of Social Elderly Care Service (ECS) has emerged as a dominant trend, holding substantial importance in the establishment of an efficient ECS system. This study aims to serve as a comprehensive reference for the advancement of China's ECS system, achieved through the harmonious integration of a social ECS system with AI capabilities. This paper introduces the fundamental theory of AI, delving into the intricacies of the greyscale model of AI. Furthermore, it provides an overview of the current landscape of elderly care and elder care institutions, offering scientific data and insights to propel further research on AI development and system construction. Through an analysis of the existing research status, the study identifies prevalent issues within the AI-ECS integration, emphasizing pivotal factors influencing the construction of a robust social ECS system. To address these concerns, the study puts forth specific and viable policy recommendations. Notably, the questionnaire's statistics underscore that 83% of the elderly populace would opt for AI-driven solutions in selecting intelligent products, thereby underscoring the pivotal role of AI within the social ECS system. The challenges facing elderly care systems, including demographic shifts, resource constraints, and evolving societal norms, demand innovative solutions for providing efficient and effective care. This study addresses these challenges by exploring the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into Social Elderly Care Services (ECS) in China. By delving into the theory of AI and assessing the existing research status, the study identifies key issues in AI-ECS integration and proposes viable policy recommendations. Insights from stakeholder surveys further highlight the importance of AI-driven solutions in meeting the needs of the elderly population.

Relationship between Government and Community, Mobilization Ability, and Organizational Performance: Comparative Case Analysis Based on Community Elderly Care Service Institutions

This study explores the reason why community service organizations with different operating modes in similar institutional environments have significant differences in their operational performance when providing the same services. Through comparative case analysis, this paper puts forward the analysis framework of government-community relationship, mobilization ability, and organizational performance to reveal the internal process of organizational operation and the root cause of performance differences. The findings are as follows. The relationship between the government and the community is the key variable to understanding the operation logic of community service organizations. The interaction between government and community is particularly key to the operation and development of the organization, and the different interaction between government and community is the root cause of the difference in the operation performance of the organization. The operational performance of community service organizations is based on the organization’s resource mobilization and organizational mobilization capacity and scope, whereby the two mobilization capabilities are related to the relationship between the government and the community. The research conclusion provides a new explanation for understanding the operational performance of organizations and can also be a reference for optimizing the operation of social organizations.

Factors impacting clinical data and documentation quality in Australian aged care and disability services: a user-centred perspective

BackgroundResearch has highlighted a need to improve the quality of clinical documentation and data within aged care and disability services in Australia to support improved regulatory reporting and ensure quality and safety of services. However, the specific causes of data quality issues within aged care and disability services and solutions for optimisation are not well understood.ObjectivesThis study explored aged care and disability workforce (referred to as ‘data-users’) experiences and perceived root causes of clinical data quality issues at a large aged care and disability services provider in Western Australia, to inform optimisation solutions.MethodsA purposive sample of n = 135 aged care and disability staff (including community-based and residential-based) in clinical, care, administrative and/or management roles participated in semi-structured interviews and web-based surveys. Data were analysed using an inductive thematic analysis method, where themes and subthemes were derived.ResultsEight overarching causes of data and documentation quality issues were identified: (1) staff-related challenges, (2) education and training, (3) external barriers, (4) operational guidelines and procedures, (5) organisational practices and culture, (6) technological infrastructure, (7) systems design limitations, and (8) systems configuration-related challenges.ConclusionThe quality of clinical data and documentation within aged care and disability services is influenced by a complex interplay of internal and external factors. Coordinated and collaborative effort is required between service providers and the wider sector to identify behavioural and technical optimisation solutions to support safe and high-quality care and improved regulatory reporting.

"COVID-19 - A Perfect Storm": A Qualitative Exploration of Residential Care Facility Managers Perspectives on the Psychosocial Impacts of COVID-19.

Growing evidence highlights the negative impact of managing the COVID-19 pandemic on the wellbeing of the healthcare workforce, including in the aged care sector. We undertook a qualitative study during the pandemic's third year to explore the psychosocial impacts on nine managers of residential care facilities (RCFs) across metropolitan and rural New South Wales, the largest state in Australia. Four themes were identified: (1) Increased pressure on maintaining aged care services, (2) Increased responsibility on RCF managers, (3) Psychosocial impacts due to accumulating pressures, and (4) Experience of beneficial supports. COVID-19 compounded pre-pandemic sector challenges and added new stressors. While resilient and resourceful, RCF managers experienced workplace stress and burnout, which may affect quality of resident care and impact on staff retention. There is a need for more investment to effectively support staff, and research to identify optimal psychosocial and management supports.

Hybrid housing models for older Australians: institutional framework and policy challenges

Older people seeking affordable housing in the mainstream housing tenures such as home ownership, private renting and social housing face increasing difficulties in accessing and remaining in appropriate housing. The mainstream housing tenures face pressure due to widening housing affordability problems in home ownership and the private rental sector in many advanced economies, exacerbated by declining investment in social housing. Hybrid housing models are often promoted as affordable and sometimes appropriate and adequate housing options for older people. These models combine aspects of ownership and renting in diverse ways, often posing challenges for tenure-based housing policies. Drawing on the case of Australia, the paper presents the findings of an institutional review of the production, consumption, management, and exchange of land lease communities, often marketed as a more affordable form of housing for older people compared to the more established hybrid form of retirement villages. Noting difficulties in scoping the size and significance of the land lease community sector from current data collections, we find (a) entry of large institutional investors risks undermining the relative affordability of the sector for older people; (b) security of occupancy is a critical policy issue and (c) concentration in rural areas raises concerns around risk of natural disasters and access to aged care and other services. These issues are often overlooked in housing policy and pose challenges for other policy domains including income support, social care, and health services.

Co-production processes for translation and validation of psychosocial assessments for older adults in aged care.

Given the diverse ethnic backgrounds of aged care clients, there is a critical requirement to translate psychosocial assessment tools into various languages to effectively evaluate social engagement and quality of life in older adults receiving aged care services. This study aimed to translate psychosocial tools into Turkish, Korean and Mandarin, the primary languages spoken by clients of an Australian community aged care provider. A co-development approach encompassing forward and backward translations of the Australian Community Participation Questionnaire and ICEpop CAPability measure for Older people tools, along with focus group discussions involving bilingual staff (n = 7) and clients (n = 16), was employed to ensure precision and cultural relevance. Multiple iterations were undertaken until linguistic, conceptual and scaling equivalence was achieved, with recorded sessions transcribed and analysed thematically. Cultural appropriateness significantly impacted the delivery of questions within the tools, emphasising translation challenges tied to specific queries. These difficulties included the lack of terms for unique places of worship, the use of outdated language (e.g., references to reading newspapers), and varying priorities in social and well-being matters between Western and Eastern/Asian cultures. Staff feedback identified that formal translated tool versions eased administration for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) clients, enabling them to independently interpret questions, resulting in improved questionnaire completion rates. Insights indicate the need for continued efforts in tailoring assessment tools to diverse cultural contexts to ensure accurate and meaningful data collection.

Volunteer Participation and Loneliness in the Elderly: An Empirical Study Based on CHARLS 2018

Based on the empirical research data collected from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey (CHARLS) in 2018, this study examines the specific impacts of two types of volunteering on loneliness among elderly individuals in China. Additionally, it investigates various demographic, socioeconomic, physical health, and family intergenerational support factors that may influence the relationship between these variables. The findings of this investigation demonstrate that both group-driven volunteer service and individual active volunteer service significantly contribute to reducing loneliness among older adults. However, there exist four distinct demographic disparities: variations in age, differences in empty nest situations, disparities based on gender, and discrepancies in economic status. Consequently, to address the issue of elderly loneliness effectively, this study primarily proposes four key approaches: guiding the elderly towards embracing social participation as a concept; emphasizing the development of community social capital; enhancing volunteer service design; and increasing investment in volunteer services for the elderly. These measures aim to foster an inclusive environment that encourages active engagement among older adults while providing them with convenient avenues to participate in volunteer activities. This study empirically investigates the evolution of social engagement among elderly individuals in China, offering novel research perspectives on public involvement in addressing the challenges associated with elderly care services.

Differences in the Elderly Care Service Demand,Preference,and Tendency Between Urban and Rural Areas in the Pearl River Delta

Objective To understand the differences in the demand,preference,and tendency for elderly care services between urban and rural areas in the Pearl River Delta (PRD),and to provide reference for the planning and balanced allocation of elderly care resources in urban and rural areas. Methods Using the multi-stage stratified random sampling method,we selected 7 community health service centers in 2 prefecture-level cities in the PRD and conducted a questionnaire survey on the elderly care service demand,preference,and tendency among 1919 regular residents aged 60 years and above who attended the centers. Results A total of 641 urban elderly residents (33.4%) and 1278 rural elderly residents (66.6%) were surveyed in the PRD.The urban and rural elderly residents showed differences in the child number (χ2=43.379,P<0.001),willingness to purchase socialized elderly care services (χ2=104.141,P<0.001),and attitudes to the concept of raising child to avoid elderly hardship (χ2=65.632,P<0.001).The proportion (71.8%) of rural elderly residents who prefer family-based elderly care was higher than that (57.1%) of urban elderly residents (χ2=41.373,P<0.001).The proportion (62.2%) of urban elderly residents clearly expressing their willingness to choose institutions for elderly care was higher than that (44.0%) of rural elderly residents (χ2=57.007,P<0.001).Compared with family-based elderly care,the willingness to choose institutional or community-based in-house elderly care was low among the urban elderly residents with surplus monthly household income or balanced income and expenditure;urban males,those with college education background or above,and those who purchased socialized elderly care services tended to prefer community-based in-house elderly care.In rural areas,the elderly residents who had local household registry were prone to choose institutional or community-based in-house elderly care,while those who had more than one child and those who were satisfied with the current living conditions were less willing to choose community-based in-house elderly care. Conclusions It is suggested that the urban-rural differences in the elderly care service demand,preference and tendency should be fully considered in the planning and allocation of urban and rural elderly care resources.Efforts remain to be made to develop diversified social elderly care services tailored to the characteristics of urban and rural areas.

Research on the assignment of elderly care service personnel with time window constraints

As the population continues to age, there is a growing need for elderly care services. In China, home care is widely embraced as a preferred method of caring for the elderly, and it has a promising commercial outlook. The strategic allocation of Elderly Care Service Personnel (ECSP) is a crucial component of the operational procedures for home care services. By strategically assigning elderly service personnel, it is possible to enhance the satisfaction and simultaneously minimize expenses. The issue of rationalizing the assignment of ECSP in the face of restricted resources is a genuine challenge that requires a solution, given the many types of elderly service demands and the skill requirements and time limits of certain projects. This study presents a strategy for assigning personnel on an hourly basis, taking into account time frame limits. This method involves several steps. Firstly, it involves assessing the specific service needs of the elderly, including the required door-to-door service time, service level, and gender preferences. Secondly, it calculates the service satisfaction and service operation cost of the Home Care Service Platform (HCSP) separately. Finally, it constructs a multi-objective elderly service personnel assignment method. This method aims to minimize the ECSP 's travel time and wasted time, maximize the satisfaction of the elderly by considering priority levels and ECSP scores, and minimize the operation cost of the HCSP. A model is developed to assign ECSP for elderly individuals, with the goal of minimizing travel time and wasted time, maximizing elderly satisfaction by considering priority and service personnel rating, and minimizing operating costs for the HCSP. Additionally, if there are unserved elderly individuals, an optimized path model is constructed using a cross-modified genetic algorithm to obtain the optimal matching result. Ultimately, an arithmetic example is employed to demonstrate the practicality and efficiency of the strategy put forth in this research. The findings demonstrate that the model presented in this research possesses distinct advantages in comparison to other conventional models.

Enlightenment of Japan's Practice Model of Volunteer Service for the Aged to China

Voluntary service is an important symbol of the civilization and progress of modern society, and it is also an important way to solve the shortage of aged care service talents. From the perspective of holistic governance and social coordination, this paper deeply analyzes the problems existing in the practice of volunteer service for the aged, and tries to explore a new way to solve the practical dilemma of volunteer service for the aged in China from the perspective of constructing a systematic mechanism of volunteer service for the aged and realizing accurate supply of volunteer service for the aged. Volunteer service for the aged is not only to meet the needs of the elderly and the intention of volunteer service supply, but also needs to be deeply constructed from the public sector's position and function, innovative social governance and big data for the aged.

Survey of Oral Health for Old People in Elderly Care Facility

Elderly care faciliities and welfare services are becoming more important as the aging tendancy accelarates and the proportion of the elderly population increases. However, in long-term care ratings for elderly care services, evaluation criteria for oral health or oral hygiene managing ability are insufficient. In this study, we surveyed the teeth condition of the elderly in long-term care facilities located in Korea, and compared with the results of KNHANES. Correlation analysis was performed between collected data about teeth condition and other factors of patients including other oral hygiene conditions, information about long-term care, and systemic diseases.The above can be summarized as results and proposals as follows.1. Teeth conditions including natural teeth of elderly in long-term care facilities are worse than general people. The elderly in long-term care facilities were proven to have less natural teeth, less percentage of natural teeth more than 20, and be more edentulous than general people.2. Three indices about natural teeth also had correlation with periodontal condition, xerostomia, and temporomandibular disorders. Also, number of prosthesis and dental caries had correlation with each other, and had relation with salivary function.3. Since maintaining the natural teeth is nationally considered as infortant factors to maintain the quality of life, management of natural teeth, and eventually, general oral health should be performed necessarily in the elderly of long-term care facilities.

顶山市城市社区养老托育服务供给状况研究——基于QCA 方法的组态分析

Population ageing has always been a topic of great concern, and in recent years, with the emergence of the declining birthrate, China's population structure is also facing new challenges. With the national policy of intergenerational integration of old-age care and childcare, Pingdingshan City has also begun to face the problem of how to develop old-age care and childcare. Among them, the problems are mainly manifested in the insufficient supply of professionals, medical and health services, and early childhood enlightenment education services. In view of these problems, this paper puts forward a number of suggestions to strengthen the construction of talent team, publicize the advantages of urban community elderly care services, connect multiple resources to enhance sustainable development capacity, and increase government financial and policy support, so as to promote the sustainable development of elderly care in Pingdingshan City.

银发一族智慧社区养老服务参与意愿影响因素研究

With the accelerating global aging population, solving eldercare issues has become a significant challenge, and smart community elderly care services based on big data and internet technology have emerged as a response. To further analyze the factors influencing the elderly’s willingness to participate in smart community elderly care services, this study first reviews relevant literature from the perspectives of smart community elderly care and willingness to participate, providing a theoretical basis for this paper. Next, to ensure the typicality of the research, Weifang City is selected as the study’s experimental site. Questionnaires were distributed to collect data on the elderly’s willingness to participate in smart community elderly care services, and univariate analysis was conducted for factor screening. The screened results were then analyzed using binary logistic regression. The results are mainly analyzed from three aspects: individual factors such as age, type of household registration, and occupation; family internal factors such as living situation, family support for participating in community elderly care, and external factors such as neighborhood relationships and exposure to privacy. These factors influence the elderly’s willingness to participate in smart community elderly care. Finally, through discussion, the study identifies existing problems and proposes measures to improve the elderly’s willingness to participate in smart community elderly care, such as providing demand-oriented services, updating elderly care concepts, and creating a favorable external environment.

Study on the measurement of coupling and coordinated development level between China’s internet and elderly care services and its influencing factors

BackgroundWith the intensification of China’s aging population, the demand for elderly care services has become increasingly prominent. At the same time, rapid development of internet technology provides more convenience and possibilities for the elderly. However, the coordinated development between the internet and elderly care services still faces challenges. This study aims to measure the level of coupling and coordinated development between the internet and elderly care services in China, and analyze the influencing factors, in order to provide reference for promoting elderly care services.MethodsIn this paper, the entropy method and coupling coordination degree model were used to measure the coupling coordination development index of the internet and elderly care services in China from 2012 to 2021. In addition, considering that the coordinated development between the two is affected by many factors, the Tobit model was used to analyze the main factors affecting the integration of the internet and elderly care services.Results(1) The coupling and coordination of the Internet and senior care services is in its infancy, but the coupling and coordination of the two is on the rise, and there is still a lot of room for development in the future. (2) In terms of time scale, the coupling coordination development level between the internet and elderly care services in China has gone through three stages of “disorder recession-transition coordination-coordinated development”. (3) In terms of influencing factors, government management ability has a more positive impact on the development of the integration of the Internet and senior care services, financial support, scientific and technological investment and the level of innovation play a mild pulling role, while the level of informatization to a certain extent restricts the level of integration of the Internet and senior care services.ConclusionIn order to promote the coordinated development of China’s Internet and senior care services, it is necessary to comprehensively understand the current situation and development space of China’s Internet and senior care services coupling coordination degree, accurately grasp the dynamic trend of China’s Internet and senior care services coupling and coordinated development, promote the stage of leapfrogging, and fully consider the influencing factors, so as to realize the optimal allocation of policies and resources. These measures will help to promote a more coordinated and sustainable development of the internet and elderly care services in China.

Research on the Construction of Group Elderly Care Service Platform Based on IoT Technology

Internet of Things (IoT) technology is widely used in various fields, and its application in elderly care serviceshas been highlighted in recent years. This study aims to explore how IoT technology can improve the efficiency of group-based elderly care services. The concept, characteristics, and current application status of IoT technology in elderly care services were introduced. Secondly, the characteristics and needs of group elderly care services were analyzed, including advantages and challenges, as well as the expectations and needs of the elderly for elderly care services. The evaluation methods and future development directions of IoT technology in improving the efficiency of group elderly care services were discussed, including data collection and analysis methods, selection and measurement of efficiency evaluation indicators, challenges, and development directions.

Research and Design of One-stop Intelligent Elderly Care Comprehensive Service Platform Based on Event-driven Architecture

In the context of an aging population, innovative development of smart elderly care as a pension model not only offers a novel solution to address the increasing aging issue but also provides an alternative choice to cater to the expanding requirements of elderly care services. This study accomplished system design by conducting research and analysis on China's existing smart pension market while leveraging available information technology. Furthermore, Java Eclipse and MySQL were employed for system construction along with intelligent health monitoring devices to enable real-time health monitoring, collection of vital signs data, and artificial intelligence-based disease prediction within home environments for older adults. Consequently, this approach can fulfill the demands of elderly care services while facilitating intelligent, convenient, and humanized homecare experiences that allow seniors to enjoy their golden years while alleviating burdens on their children.

Research on Social Elderly Care Services by Buddhist Organizations—Based on the Survey Data of Zibo City Buddhist Group to Set up Pension Institutions

The Buddhist circle involved in the pension cause has a long historical tradition and is highly supported bystate-issued policies. Hence, the Buddhist pension cause has made certain progress in recent years. This paper takes the Earth Care Home of Huayan Temple, Huantai County, Zibo City as an example, to analyze the establishment and operation of kindness homes. This study also analyzed the daily life of the elderly, sorted out the advantages and constraints of their participation in the elderly care service, and provided relevant suggestions on how to promote the sustainable development of elderly care by Buddhist organizations.

Who will take care of them? A reflection on Southern European welfare regimes

The age profile of a country influences the organization of healthcare arrangements for older people. In southern European countries, the low performance of the welfare state and traditional family-oriented culture have led to an informal and gendered model of care, with women often responsible for the (unpaid) caregiving work. However, the increasing female participation in the labour market challenges these welfare regimes, prompting a shift in family responsibilities outside the family. Moreover, in response to the growing need for long-term care workers, some European countries have relied on individuals with a “migratory background” rather than restructuring their public elderly care services. This article examines the demographic, cultural, economic, and social changes of southern welfare regimes. The introduction of policies that, directly or indirectly, eliminate gender stereotypes in informal caregiving work and the diffusion of equal family-care culture are measures that can no longer be postponed in addressing the future of such welfare regimes.