社区适老化改造对老年人健康的影响

Impact of Age-Friendly Community Renovations on the Elderly's

社区适老化改造是提升老年人居家养老质量的关键举措,其潜在价值有待系统研究。文章利用中国老年社会追踪调查数据考察了社区适老化改造对老年人多维健康的影响,研究发现,以优化照明、平整路面、增设无障碍设施为核心的社区适老化改造显著提升了老年人的自评健康,降低了抑郁风险,改善了社会适应性和生活满意度。这些健康效益会进一步转化为经济效益:一是通过降低老年人的住院率,减少医疗卫生支出;二是通过提高老年人的自理能力,减轻家庭及社会的照护负担。社区适老化改造主要通过降低跌倒风险、增加社会互动、改善健康行为及增加社区内医养服务利用来实现其健康效应,相应效应对高龄老人、失能老人以及资源匮乏地区的老人更加显著。文章的研究结论突出了进一步加大社区适老化改造投入的必要性,并为制定差异化的改造策略、最大化健康及经济效益提供了依据。

Using data from the China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey,this study examines the impact of age-friendly community renovations on the multidimensional health of the elderly.Empirical results indicate that renovations to improve lighting,pavements,and accessibility of facilities significantly improve the self-rated health,reduce depression risks,and enhance social adaptability and life satisfaction of the elderly.These health benefits can translate into significant economic benefits.On the one hand,the renovations help to reduce healthcare expenditures by reducing hospitalization rates.On the other,the renovations improve the elderly's self-care abilities,which alleviates the burden of families and society in caregiving.Mechanism analysis reveals that the positive health effects of renovations are primarily achieved through reducing risks of tumbling,improving social interactions and health behaviors,and enhancing the use of healthcare services.Heterogeneity analysis shows that the health impacts of these renovations are more pronounced among the elderly who are older,disabled,or living in areas with relatively scarce economic and medical resources.