Home care satisfaction analysis of aging urban Chinese populations:Potential factors and community difference analysis

Abstract

Social(i.e.,community) service capacity in China is lagging behind the growing population of urban elderly residents.This is exhibited by both low-function diversity and unreasonable distribution.This paper provides an analysis of the potential factors and the community differences in the home-caring satisfaction of the elderly,based on a questionnaire survey among six typical communities in Beijing.Using a structural equation modeling approach,a home-caring satisfaction model of Chinese urban elderly people is developed,which is comprehensive and hierarchical and includes the health,economic,social support,living environment,as well as,other indices.The results indicated that:(1) is the primary determinant factor of the satisfaction of the elderly,the importance of local access to communication and community activities was highlighted for the aged and empty-nest people;(2) To what extent,the community service for elderly people is developed,has widely and markedly influenced the degree of life satisfaction of elderly;(3) With community type as grouping variable,multiple group analysis was conducted to clarify the effect paths of endogenous variables in the satisfaction models.According to this,four types of communities were identified which have significant differences in elderly home-caring demand with each other.Finally,this paper demonstrates the importance of enhancing the social support for the elderly and the urgency to improve the community home-caring service for elderly people.