Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress 2023 EHA Congress 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

A round-up of the ONWARDS phase 3 clinical trials evaluating the novel weekly insulin icodec in people with diabetes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
BMC Health Services Research
Published in: BMC Health Services Research 1/2019

Open Access 01-12-2019 | Care | Research article

The relationship between formal and informal care among Chinese older adults: based on the 2014 CLHLS dataset

Author: Wenyi LIN

Published in: BMC Health Services Research | Issue 1/2019

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

The substitute or complementary effect of formal care on informal care service used by the elderly has been tested in Western countries. However, this effect is excluded from the discussion in the Chinese context. The identification of the relationship between informal care and formal care may imply different directions in policy-making. Thus, this study contributes to understanding the relationship between informal care and formal care among Chinese older adults.

Methods

Using the dataset from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) in 2014, this study uses regression models and instrumental variable (IV) method to examine the impact of formal care on informal care.

Results

The results primarily show that formal care does not substitute informal care among Chinese older adults. In fact, formal care is a supplement to informal care in China.

Conclusion

It is expected that informal care will become less available in the future in China. Thus, policymakers should be concerned about the underdevelopment of formal care for the elderly in China.
Footnotes
1
CLHLS is conducted by the Center for Healthy Aging and Development Studies, and the National School of Development of Beijing University. See http://​opendata.​pku.​edu.​cn/​dataverse/​CHADS for further details.
 
2
The old-age dependency ratio was 15.0% in 2016.
 
3
The number of disabled elderly was around 37 million in 2013, accounting for 19% of the aged population (60+).
 
Literature
1.
Albertini M, Pavolin E. Unequal inequalities: the stratification of the use of formal care among older Europeans. J Gerontol Ser B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2017;72(3):510–21.
2.
Barnes TRE, Banerjee S, et al. Antipsychotics in dementia: prevalence and quality of antipsychotic drug prescribing in UK mental health services. Br J Psychiatry. 2012;201(3):221–6.CrossRef
3.
Blackman T. Care robots for the supermarket shelf: a product gap in assistive technologies. Ageing Soc. 2013;33:763–81.CrossRef
4.
Bremer P, Challis D, et al. Informal and formal care: substitutes or complements in care for people with dementia? Empirical evidence for 8 European countries. Health policy. 2017;121(6):613–22.CrossRef
5.
Chen CC, Yamada T, et al. Substitution of formal and informal home care service use and nursing home service use: health outcomes, decision-making preferences, and implications for a public health policy. Front Public Health. 2017;5.
6.
China Statistical Bureau. (2017). China Civil Affairs’ Statistical Yearbook. Beijing, China: China statistics press. [in Chinese].
7.
8.
Hu B, Wang J. Unmet long-term care needs and depression: the double disadvantage of community-dwelling older people in rural China. Health Soc Care Community. 2019;27(1):126–38.CrossRef
9.
Kerpershoek L, de Vugt M. Needs and quality of life of people with middle-stage dementia and their family carers from the European Actifcare study. When informal care alone may not suffice. Aging Ment Health. 2018;22(7):897–902.CrossRef
10.
Lambotte D, De Donder L, et al. Frailty differences in older adults' use of informal and formal care. Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2018;79:69–77.CrossRef
11.
Lin WJ, Wang H, Zhou ZP. Care selection of older adults in China: informal or formal care—empirical study based on the data of CLHLS and CHARLS. J Shanghai Univ Finance and Econ. 2014;16(3):54–62 in Chinese.
12.
13.
Milligan C. There’s no place like home: place and care in an ageing society. 2009;ASHGATE:48.
14.
Moudouni MMDK, Ohsfeldt RL, et al. The relationship between formal and informal care among adult medicaid personal care services recipients. Health Serv Res. 2012;47(4):1642–59.CrossRef
15.
Mozhaeva I. Who cares? Evidence on informal and formal home care use in Estonia. Baltic J Econ. 2019;19(1):136–54.CrossRef
16.
Powell C. Care for older people in multigenerational families: a life course analysis across four generations. Families Relationships and Societies. 2018;7(1):103–21.CrossRef
17.
Qian JW. Mental health Care in China: providing services for under-treated patients. J Ment Health Policy Econ. 2012;15(4):179–86.PubMed
18.
Stephan A, Bieber A, et al. Barriers and facilitators to the access to and use of formal dementia care: findings of a focus group study with people with dementia, informal carers, and health and social care professionals in eight European countries. BMC Geriatr. 2018;18.
19.
Sun ZL, Guerriere DN, et al. Does informal care impact utilization of home-based formal care services among end-of-life patients? A decade of evidence from Ontario, Canada. Health & Social Care in the Community. 2019;27(2):437–48.CrossRef
20.
Tang, J.(2016). How many disabled elderly people in China. China social security, no.12: 38–40. [in Chinese].
21.
Van Houtven CH, Norton EC. Informal care and health care use of older adults. J Health Econ. 2004;23:1159–80.CrossRef
22.
23.
Wacker RR, Roberto KA. Community resources for older adults: Programs and services in an era of change. SAGE. 2008.
24.
Wherton J, Sugarhood P, et al. Designing assisted living technologies ‘in the wild’: preliminary experiences with cultural probe methodology. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2012;12:188.CrossRef
Metadata
Title
The relationship between formal and informal care among Chinese older adults: based on the 2014 CLHLS dataset
Author
Wenyi LIN
Publication date
01-12-2019
Publisher
BioMed Central
Keyword
Care
Published in
BMC Health Services Research / Issue 1/2019
Electronic ISSN: 1472-6963
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-019-4160-8

Other articles of this Issue 1/2019

BMC Health Services Research 1/2019 Go to the issue

Research article

Influences on the access to and use of formal community care by people with dementia and their informal caregivers: a scoping review

Research article

Key factors supporting implementation of a training program for neonatal family- centered care – a qualitative study

Research article

Awareness, attitude and behavior regarding proton pump inhibitor among medical staff in the Southwest of China

Research article

An empirical tool for estimating the share of unmet need due to healthcare inefficiencies, suboptimal access, and lack of effective technologies

Research article

Participation in the state led ‘Janani Sahayogi Yojana’ public private partnership program to promote facility births in Madhya Pradesh, India: views from private obstetrician partners

Research article

Factors affecting medical file documentation during telephone triage at an emergency call centre: a cross-sectional study of out-of-hours home visits by general practitioners in France