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Willingness to live in eldercare institutions among older adults in urban and rural China: a nationwide study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 December 2009

RITA JING-ANN CHOU
RITA JING-ANN CHOU*
Affiliation:
College of Social Work, University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA.
*
Address for correspondence: Rita J. Chou, College of Social Work, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC29208, USA E-mail: rjchou@sc.edu
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Abstract

Recent economic development and socio-cultural changes have made it increasingly difficult for Chinese families to provide eldercare. Consequently, institutional care has been strongly promoted to meet older adults' long-term care needs. Although it has been estimated that China needs more beds to meet such needs, unfilled beds have been reported nationwide. One reason for the low occupancy may be a lack of willingness among older adults to live in long-term care institutions. Based on a national survey of 20,255 older adults, this study examined the extent of willingness among older Chinese to live in eldercare institutions, and it was found that in urban and rural areas, only 20 and 17 per cent of older adults, respectively, were willing to do so. Using an integrated theoretical model and logistic regression analyses, this study shows that gender, perceived family harmony, perceived filial piety, socio-cultural beliefs and practices about raising children and eldercare, knowledge and opinion about eldercare institutions, and self-assessed economic status were associated with willingness to live in eldercare institutions for both urban and rural older adults, while other predictors of willingness had different effects. The paper concludes with a discussion of the substantive, theoretical and policy implications for long-term care in China.

Keywords

Chinaolder adultslong-term careeldercare institutionswillingnessurban–rural disparities
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 30 , Issue 4 , May 2010 , pp. 583 - 608
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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