Research on the Establishment of a Long-Term Care System for the Elderly with Alzheimer’s Disease Under the Background of Long-Term Care Insurance: A Literature Review

With the aging of the country’s population structure,the problem of social pensions is becoming more and more serious.As for the issue of social pension,the elderly with Alzheimer’s disease are a special group,and the issue of care services for these elderly has attracted widespread attention from society.However,judging from the current level of social security provided to the elderly with dementia in the country,there is a serious imbalance between supply and demand.Therefore,this problem needs to be solved urgently and is of great significance for further improving the country’s social pension security system.Routine care is limited to hospitals and mainly focuses on the patient’s condition.Patients fail to receive comprehensive care services and the effect is not ideal.Therefore,in order to improve patients’cognitive function and quality of life,and learn from international experience,a“community-institution-home”three-dimensional linkage care model based on long-term care insurance can be established.The application of this model can effectively solve and further improve the country’s elderly care and social security system.

Equity of access to long-term care among the Korean elderly

The aim of the current study is to examine the extent to which equity in the utilization of longterm care services has been achieved in the Republic of Korea (hereafter Korea), based on the Aday—Andersen Access Framework that takes into consideration a series of variables hypothesized as predictive of utilization. The current study used cross-sectional survey data collected and conducted by the Korea Labor Institute (KLI) between August 1 to December 22, 2006. The sample for this study was 5544 persons who are older than 60 years. The study was extracted from a larger nationally representative cross-sectional survey of 10,255 individuals. The stratified cluster sampling technique was used to draw the survey respondents. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data from the sample. Descriptive and logistic regression analysis was performed examining the relationship between the dependent variable and the independent variables and the relative importance of factors. The results indicate that a universal health insurance system has not yielded a fully equitable distribution of services. The limitation of benefit coverage as well as disparities in consumer cost-sharing and associated patterns of utilization across plans high out-of-pocket payment can be a barrier to health care utilization, which results in inequity and differential long-term care utilization between sub-groups of older adults. Health policy reforms in Korea must continue to concentrate on expanding insurance coverage, reducing the inequities reflected in disparities in consumer cost-sharing and associated patterns of utilization across plans, and establishing a financially separate insurance system for poor older adults. The behavioral responses of physicians to the method of reimbursement, and the subsequent impact on overall rates of utilization and expenditures need to be more fully understood. In addition, further research is needed to identify the nonfinancial barriers that persist for certain demographic subgroups, i.e., those 70 and older, men, lacking social network members, those who have four or more family members, and those who have no schooling.

Analysis on Long-Term Care and Influencing Factors of Empty-Nest Differently Abled Elderly People in China —Based on the Data from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey

Purpose: This study aimed to understand the actual needs of empty-nest differently abled elderly people and analyze their long-term care status including the factors affecting choice of care mode so adequate resources can be allocated to meet their healthcare needs. Methods: An empty-nest group was compared with a non-empty-nest group based on data from the 2014 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey. Individual characteristics, family characteristics, and sociological factors were considered as independent variables, and long-term care model was the dependent variable in the three binary logistic regression method. Results: Age, gender, marriage, and disability were the most important factors influencing the choice of long-term care mode, including the willingness of the differently abled elderly. Family care can no longer meet the needs of the severely disabled elderly. Long-term care for such elderly people should be undertaken by professional and specialized social institutions. Conclusion: Multi-level services should be provided according to the elderly peoples’ needs, and the skill and expertise of professional personnel of care institutions should be strengthened. The government should deploy fund-raising initiatives, actively use the power of non-governmental organizations, and strive to resolve the financial issues faced by the empty-nested elderly people with disability.

Path Exploration for Long-term Care of Rural Disabled Elderly: A Case Study of G Town in South Shaanxi

Field survey of G Town in South Shaanxi indicates that current situations and existing problems of rural disabled elderly. According to these situations and problems,this paper analyzes difficulties in long-term care of rural disabled elderly. From the perspective of welfare pluralism,it comes up with development paths for long-term care of rural disabled elderly with joint participation of government,communities,non-profit organizations on the basis of the family endowment.

Fitness Age Score and the Risk of Long-Term Care Insurance Certification—The Kyoto-Kameoka Longitudinal Study

Long-Term Care Insurance System has been introduced to provide appropriate care for the elderly who needs nursing care in Japan. Physical function is one of most important function for the elderly to live independently. A previous study had established a Fitness Age Score (FAS) based on a theory for biomarker of aging. This study clarified whether the FAS could be used to predict the need for certification of long-term care (CLTC) in independent elderly people. We included 939 independent, community-dwelling-elderly (average age, 74.4 years) whose physical function was measured and for whom the CLTC was tracked for 24 months. The FAS comprised five physical fitness items: Walking time, grip strength, one-leg standing, vertical jump, and functional reach test. Based on the FAS, we calculated the odds ratio (OR) for the CLTC. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and the area under the curve (AUC) was used for further analysis. We also used the Youden Index (YI), minimum distance method (MD), and two-graph ROC method (TG) to calculate cutoff values (CVs) for screening. We divided subjects into the low and high physical fitness group with CVs. We developed cumulative CLTC curves using the Kaplan-Meier method. Sixteen people could not be tracked for the full 24 months. The measurement of FAS was completed for 798 people, of whom 28 became CLTC. The measurement of FAS was not completed for 125 people, of whom 21 became CLTC. The CLTC OR for people with incomplete FAS was 5.553. The AUC was 0.72 (p < 0.001). The CVs for the FAS were -0.29 for YI (sensitivity, 92.9% and specificity, 40.4%), -1.23 for MD (57.1% and 73.4%), and -0.81 for TG (60.7% and 60.9%). The cumulative CLTC curves according to CVs all showed significant differences (p = 0.000 - 0.020). In conclusion, the FAS can be used to predict CLTC.

Comparison of research hotspots and trends in long-term care for the elderly between China and Australia: a bibliometric analysis

Objective:To explore the current status and development of long-term care(LTC)research in terms of publications in China and Australia,to identify the major contributing authors and institutions,and to compare the research hotspots and trends between China and Australia in order to encourage informed collaborations and work in future.Methods:We collected bibliometric data on the LTC of the elderly in China and Australia from 2009 to 2020 using Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI)and Web of Science(WOS).Cite Space software was used to analyze co-authorships,co-institutions,and co-keywords.Results:A total of 826 ar ticles in Chinese and 393 in English were included for analysis.The total number of publications showed an upward trend in both countries.The top 10 productive researchers and institutions in China and Australia were identified,and their collaboration network was revealed.Then,the knowledge maps of cooccurring keywords,respectively,showed the hotspots of"LTC insurance,disabled elderly,combination of medical and health care,nursing home"and"nursing home,dementia,quality of life,intervention"in China and Australia.Strong citation burst keywords illustrated the emerging trends of"combination of medical and health care,healthy aging"in China and"polypharmacy,prevention"in Australia.Conclusions:This article provided an insight into LTC of the elderly in China and Australia,and research in this field is developing rapidly and is being increasingly valued.The findings will be useful for future researchers to facilitate collaboration,identify new topics,and suppor t urgently needed research of LTC in China.

Performance of Rural Municipalities After the 2015 Reformation of Long-Term Care Insurance in Japan

Worldwide,welfare is trending from a welfare state model to social participation to ensure the sustainability of health care systems.Japan,where the aging rate will reach 40%by 2060,reformed public Long-Term Care Insurance(LTCI)on a large scale in 2015 and started the Comprehensive Service project(CS project),which emphasizes the prevention of long-term care through social participation in the community.Through this project,communities work to develop prevention efforts revolving around the community salon/caféand mutual support,including all daily tasks that previously were the purview of family members.Each municipality has an obligation to promote a CS project through new community development initiatives among community members.The purpose of this study is to investigate the CS projects performed by rural municipalities and to explore the important factors for their success.The authors used a case study methodology and constant comprehensive methodology for analyzing interview data to pull out the elements of successful initiatives.The study shows that the following factors influence success:recognition of demographic risk,recognition of the ineffectiveness of LTCI services,developing a passionate philosophy and strategy as a municipality,developing community members’initiative,and having many assets and full participation in the community.These factors imply that community development is a critical part of any successful CS project.

Volunteers as caregivers for elderly with chronic diseases:An assessment of demand and cause of demand

Objective:We sought to examine the demand of volunteers on long-term care of elderly patients with chronic diseases.Further,we evaluated patients'reasons to want long-term care volunteers as well as socioeconomic factors affecting these needs.Methods:Questionnaires were distributed to 516 elderly with chronic diseases from nursing homes,hospitals,and elderly living with relatives.Patient questions dealt with basic socioeconomic questions,their reasons to want care volunteers,and the nature of chronic disease,and their motivation to volunteer and which sorts of activities they perform while volunteering.Results:73.4%of the elderly patients with chronic diseases desired to have volunteers for long-term care.The most desired services were care visits,transportation,and leisure/recreation activities.The number of chronic diseases they had,their marital status,education level,and social support system were all statistically important.Conclusion:The data presented here suggest that the government should actively advocate for volunteer service for elderly with chronic diseases.Additional support is needed in terms of financial support,incentive measures,professional training for volunteers,and supervision of volunteers.Such developments are needed to improve volunteer service standards.

Healthcare Needs of the Elderly People over 85 Years Living Alone on the Island Area in Japan: A Descriptive Study

Background: Japan has the highest aging people accounting 33.8 million with the rate of 26.7% in 2015. Although, public long-term care insurance services support people age 40 years and above, most of the users are 85 years and over due to their more vulnerability for getting sick. This study describes the physical, mental and social status of the elderly people aged 85 years and over, who were living alone at home. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted between November 2016 and March 2017 in the island of Kure city, Hiroshima, Japan. A structured questionnaire and scales were used for data collection and documentation of physical measurements. Descriptive analysis was used. Result: A total of 190 subjects were participated, and the data were analyzed. The age range of the subjects was 85 to 98 years, and 68.4% of them were 85 to 89 years old. Male and female ratio was 21.6% vs 78.4%. Subjects of 17.4% continued their occupation at the time of the study period and most of them involved in agricultural work (93.9%). A certain percentage of the subjects had abnormal physical, mental and social difficulties and need additional support from family, friends, relatives, and community. Conclusion: Early detection and intervention such as disease management, nutritional support, and human support are required. The findings suggested policy makers to predict the burden and provide necessary care for these elderly people. It is necessary to aware family, friends, relatives, community and government supporting staff to provide information on correct recognition and usages of long-term care insurance services for these elder people.

Exploration on China's Institution-oriented Elderly Care Service System Based on Human Factors Engineering

Objective Aging process in China has brought more and more challenges to traditional home-based care for the aged and more attentions to the mode of institution-oriented elderly care.This work,by analyzing the problems and defects of institution engaging in elderly care based on the human factors engineering theory,discusses the people-centered institution-oriented elderly care service system,in terms of the problems that the pattern of institution-oriented elderly care focuses more on the facilities and environment construction than the principal role of people in the elderly care service system.Methods Sampled the institutions engaging in elderly care in Hefei City,Anhui Province,P.R.China(a medium-sized city in China);surveyed 45 institutions engaging in elderly care and 828 registered elders in Hefei City by hierarchical and systematic sampling method.Results(1)institutions engaging in elderly care shared the occupancy rate of 49.6%and low total service efficiency;(2)institutions engaging in elderly care offered 100%life-oriented service items,but only 6.1%personalized service items provided;(3)100%simple housing facilities in elderly care institutions,but extremely less personalized service facility(3.2%),with poorer quality and less satisfaction;(4)insufficient professional service staff could be available;48.1%institutions have 5 or less professional service staffs.Conclusion A countermeasure to improve the elderly care service system was raised here by aiming at improving the institution-oriented elderly care service:(1)to transfer service toward the people-oriented concept,formulating preferential policy for endowment insurance;(2)to pay attention to personalized design of service facility,offer personalized and featured service items,and improve service management level;(3)to build professional team for elderly care.

The Relationship with Previous Use of Community-Based Services and Informal Caregiver Support and Elderly and Informal Caregivers’ Views of Living Arrangement: Analysis of Official Statistics from 2004 to 2014

Background and Objectives: Views on living arrangement from elderly and informal caregivers are crucial to “ageing in place”. They might be related to the experience in the use of elderly care services, which remains inconclusive in previous literature. This study aimed to explore the association of previous experience in formal and informal long-term care services with views of both elderly and their informal caregivers on living arrangement. Research Design and Methods: This study adopted a cross-sectional design. Assessment records of Minimum Data Set-Home Care for community-dwelling elderly who were eligible for subsidized long-term care services in Hong Kong from 2004 to 2014 were made available. Multivariate logistic regression was applied to examine associations between both views on elder’s living arrangement from the elderly, caregivers and their previous informal caregiver support, and experience in formal care services. Results: 82,306 dyads of elderly and informal caregivers were included in the analysis. The elderly with previous use of home and community-based services (OR = 0.84, 95% CI 0.80 - 0.88) and informal caregivers (OR = 0.78, 95% CI 0.76 - 0.81) believed that the elderly should live away from home. Temporal trends of fewer elderly and caregivers supporting the idea of living away from home were also observed. Discussion and Implications: The results highlighted the importance of informal caregiver’s support and previous utilization of formal home and community-based services. It was concluded that resources and information of community-based care have a significant association with views on living at home also proper support services and training of care for the elderly should be made available to informal caregivers to reduce their burden.

Study on the quality of life and the factors influencing it in elderly patients

A society of advanced age is arriving with the increasing number of elderly patients. Little attention has been paid to the quality of life of elderly patients, which is decreasing gradually. This article aims to study the quality of life among elderly patients and explore the factors influencing it, in addition to exploring effective ways to improve the quality of life of elderly patients.

Influence Factors of Mobility-Related Activities of Daily Living in Chronic Dialysis Patients Needing Long-Term Care: Analysis of Long-Term Care Eligibility Assessment Survey Data

Background: In the near future in Japan, chronic dialysis patients will likely face a situation where the aging and the lengthening of hemodialysis treatment periods will adversely affect the mobility-related activities of daily living (MR-ADL). The aim of this study was to investigate chronological change in MR-ADL among chronic dialysis patients in need of long-term care and the effect of admission to long-term care facilities on their MR-ADL. Methods: Data were analyzed from a long-term care eligibility assessment survey conducted in late March 2009 of 1000 individuals residing in Niigata City, Japan who were approved to receive long-term care. Then data from those individuals who had undergone the assessment survey ≥4 times over a period of ≥4 years were statistically evaluated. To reveal change in MR-ADL, this study performed a three-way analysis of variance with mean survey scores from assessment categories 2 - 5 containing questions related to MR-ADL as the independent variable and the number of eligibility assessment surveys (within-subjects factor), facility admission, and dialysis therapy (between-subjects factors) as dependent variables. Results: We observed the effect of facility admission in individuals aged >70 years for categories 2 - 5, and observed the effect of the number of assessment surveys taken only in women ≥80 years for categories 2 and 5. Regarding the effect of dialysis therapy, female dialysis patients aged ≥80 years and in need of long-term care scored significantly higher on survey items for transferring, grooming, toileting, eating, and instrumental activities of daily living, all of which are indicators of a moderate decline in ADL. Conclusions: Because dialysis is often initiated in women aged around 80 years, ADL in this group of individuals can be improved by the initiation and proper provision of dialysis.

社会转型期农村养老的主体模式:社会保险抑或家庭保障

20世纪80年代以来,制度性社会养老保险成为构建中国农村养老体系的核心议题,但20多年来的农村社会养老保险改革目前尚未实现预期目标。社会转型期农村家庭结构的变迁对家庭养老功能带来双重影响,表现出结构性特征。与社会养老相比,家庭养老的低成本、精准化等特征使其在经济扶持、生活照料、精神慰藉方面仍具优势。在目前甚至较长期的社会转型期,家庭养老应当成为我国农村养老的主体模式。构建政府支持的家庭支持计划对于稳定、拓展家庭养老功能不可或缺,而社会养老保险值得长期建立。

照护还是医疗:老年人健康支出的产出效率比较

老龄化尤其是高龄失能老人增多对我国现有的以疾病治疗为核心的健康保障体系提出了挑战。本文基于CLHLS2011年数据采用结构方程模型的估计结果表明,家庭的照料护理支出显著提高了老人的健康自评、健康他评、生活满意度等,并且还降低了老人的小病发病率、患慢性病种类数以及两年内的患重病次数;而家庭的医疗费用支出则显著降低了老人对自身健康水平和生活状况的主观评价,对降低老人患小病、重病和慢性病等也没有贡献。相比医疗支出,照护支出具有更优的健康产出效率,并且通过增进老人的身体功能和生活自理能力、提高老人主观健康评价等途径起到更积极的健康促进作用。最后建议我国应将更多的健康支出用于照料护理,建立基于家庭和社区的老人照护体系。

完全失能老人长期照护保险研究

近年来,党和国家领导人一再强调民生问题要"保基本、托底线、救急难"。目前中国的2亿老年人口中,处境最为艰难的是1200万之多完全失能老人。如今的当务之急,是立即考虑制定对完全失能老人提供社会化长期照护的政策乃至形成稳定的制度。中国社科院社会政策研究中心联合部分大学和老年服务机构为此做了题为"完全失能老人长期护理保险研究"的课题,并以调研成果为基础,设计一个将市场化的保险项目和准市场化的老年服务结合起来的实施方案。

基于合作博弈理论的失智老人长期照护社会支持系统探讨

基于合作博弈分析法探讨失智老人长期照护社会支持系统。结果显示,将老年失智症患者照护纳入我国长期护理保险是决定该社会支持体系运行的关键。参考各地实践经验,从筹资与支付、服务提供、评估、监督及服务整合匹配几方面分析失智老人长期照护社会支持系统制度设计主要内容,从人才培养和标准研究方面提出保障机制,为政府科学决策提供参考。

北京市城市居民养老保险与服务体系现状与对策

随着我国人口老龄化的不断加剧,老年人的养老问题逐渐成为社会关注的热点。在养老问题中,最重要的是养老保险和养老服务两个方面。为了了解城市居民养老保险与服务体系构建的现状,本文针对北京市老年人的养老现状进行了调查了解和深入的分析研究。调查发现,城市居民的养老保险参保比例还有待提高,另外,城市的养老服务体系并不健全,仍需进一步的改进。通过对调查结果的深入分析,文章最后对于出现的问题给出了相对应的改进建议。

我国老年长期护理险研究

老年长期护理险在解决我国人口老龄化问题,以及满足老年人群的长期护理需求方面具有重要的意义。为适应我国国情,开发老年长期护理险应在借鉴国外经验的基础上,切实立足市场,并充分研究我国需求人群的特点,同时,必须努力挖掘市场需求、扩大覆盖面、给更多老年人提供护理保障,以达到最终全面提高我国老年人群生活质量的目的。只有健康、全面、快速的发展,我国老年长期护理险才能实现经济效益和社会效益的双赢局面。

长期照护保险:国际经验和模式选择

在国内,学术界对于失能老人和长期照护的研究,至少也有十来年的时间了。本文从老龄化催生长期照护服务和长期照护保险入手,对诸多相关的研究成果进行比较和整合,并结合国情进行取舍和提炼,试图找出在中国建立长期照护保险制度的合适的途径和模式。