Living experience and care needs of Chinese empty-nest elderly people in urban communities in Beijing,China:A qualitative study

Background:Empty-nest elders have considerable needs for daily living,health care,and social support in China.The growing need for care of an aging population requires to be met through adequate policy decision making by government.Aim:To explore care needs of Chinese empty-nest elderly people and to provide reference information for relevant authorities in making care-supporting policies.Method:A descriptive qualitative study design was adopted.Twenty-five senior citizens in urban communities who were not living with their children were recruited from three communities in different districts of Beijing.In-depth interviews with a semi-structured questionnaire were used to collect data.A qualitative content analysis method was used to analyze data.Results:A major care need by the empty-nest elderly was home-based care.In view of their physical condition,need of support and their own security problems,they would like to have aging-in-place,home-based care by housemaid employment,or have institutionalized care in the future.However,they had some concerns about institutionalized care.Conclusions:A combination of home-based and community-based care is a suitable mode of care for the empty-nest elderly,and institutionalized care is an expected supplementary form of care.

Empty-nest elderly:mahjong and Chinese square dance for improving the cognitive function in the community

Objective: The elderly population has proliferated worldwide. The empty-nest family pattern has become predominant among the aging people, and they are more vulnerable to the development of cognitive disorders. However, there is no standardized service in the community nursing care that includes procedures on how to improve the cognitive function of the elderly. Meanwhile, the booming number of empty-nest elderly stimulates the community nurses to assume the responsibility for their care. All of these bring more difficulties and opportunities for community nurses who are dedicated to the prevention of geriatric cognitive disorders.Methods: The authors reviewed the literature related to "empty-nest elderly", "cognitive function","mahjong",and "Chinese square dance" in the Elsevier, Web of Science(WOS), China National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI), Springer and PubMed databases. The study illustrates the utility possibility of an efficient and straightforward method for improving the cognitive function among the elderly in the context of community nursing care in China and even in the rest of the world.Results: Mental and physical activity contributes to cognitive fitness and may be beneficial in delaying cognitive decline. Mental activities, such as playing mahjong, and physical activities, such as the Chinese square dance, are common Chinese activities. Both of them can affect cognitive function in some way.Conclusions: China is experiencing one of its most severe aging problems. Community health personnel and related professionals may consider using mahjong and Chinese square dance to promote psychological health in empty-nest elderly individuals in the community.

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.

The prevalence of depression among the empty-nest elderly in China:a meta-analysis of cross-sectional studies

Empty-nest elderly are those who have no children or whose children are away from home,and they have to live alone or with their spouses.The prevalence of depression in the elderly is worrying,especially in the empty-nest elderly.This study aimed to examine the prevalence of depression among the empty-nest elderly in China and explore the factors that influence depression among the empty-nest elderly.Methods:We searched both international(PubMed,Cochrane Library,Embase,and Web of Science)and Chinese(CNKI,WanFang,SinoMed,and VIP)databases from their inception date until 12 April,2020,and collected cross-sectional studies on the prevalence of depression among the empty-nest elderly in China.Two reviewers independently screened the literature,extracted the data,and evaluated the risk of bias included in the study.Meta-analysis was performed using Stata12.0 software.Results:Twenty-seven cross-sectional studies were included in the meta-analysis.The pooled prevalence of depression among the empty-nest elderly in China was 41%(95%CI:32%–50%).Subgroup analysis revealed that the Geriatric Depression Scale versions,sampling methods,living areas,gender,age,chronic diseases,and living arrangements were associated with the prevalence of depression among the empty-nest elderly in China.Conclusions:The prevalence of depression among the empty-nest elderly in China was relatively high.Researchers could explore more reasons for the differences in the prevalence of depression among the empty-nest elderly from multiple perspectives in the future.Relevant departments should identify and routinely evaluate the negative emotions of the empty-nest elderly.Meanwhile,community nurses should care for the emotional needs of the empty-nest elderly,carry out targeted mental health education,and promote the realization of healthy aging.

Dynamics of family households and elderly living arrangements in China,1990-2010

This article presents analyses on dynamics of family households and elderly living arrangements in China mainly based on the micro data of 2010,2000 and 1990 censuses.We demonstrate and discuss the trends and rural-urban differentials of largely declined household size,quickly increasing one-person and one-couple-only households,substantially increased proportions of elderly living alone or with spouse only.It is strikingly interesting that proportion of three-generation family households increased by 18.9%in rural area but decreased by 23.7%in urban areas in 2010 compared to 1990,due to rural-urban differences in demographic effects of large fertility decline and socioeconomic/attitude changes.We also present and discuss two interesting demographic phenomenon which were relatively overlooked in the literature.First,increase in number of households is much larger than population growth,due to shrinking of the household size and decomposition of larger families into smaller ones,and very much slowed-down population growth.Second,increases in numbers of elderly(especially oldest-old)who live alone or with spouse only are dramatically larger than the increase in the corresponding proportions,due to the effects of rapid population aging,while later and larger birth cohorts become old.Such trends have important implications for the analyses on the current and future market demands of the products and services,of which households are the consumption units.We recommend that the studies on home-based energy use and sustainable development should be based on analyses of family household dynamics rather than population growth.

北京东城区朝阳门医院保健地段老年人口医疗服务需要和利用的影响因素分析

本文通过对朝阳门医院保健地段老年人的连续性家庭健康询问调查发现,医疗服务需要和利用受到季节、文化程度、年龄、职业、医疗费用支付方式、生活方式、收入水平等因素的影响,在此基础上探讨了老年人医疗服务的重点人群的问题。

家庭随访指导老年患者鼻饲护理的效果评价

目的对家庭随访指导老年患者鼻饲护理的效果进行评价。方法对已经通过科研项目验收的"家庭随访指导提高院外老年鼻饲病人家庭管理能力"的技术进行临床推广。采用方便取样法,将2009年1月-12月金华市5家县市级医院出院的45例老年鼻饲病人设为对照组,实施常规护理指导。将2010年1月-12月金华市5家县市级医院出院的45例老年鼻饲病人设为观察组,采用电话随访、上门家访形式进行家庭随访指导。评价家庭随访指导后院外家庭老年病人鼻饲相关并发症、意外拔管发生率、吞咽功能有没有改善。结果家庭随访指导后鼻饲相关并发症明显低于对照组(P<0.01),意外拔管发生率明显低于对照组(P<0.01),吞咽功能明显改善(P<0.01)。结论家庭随访指导能明显减少鼻饲相关并发症和意外拔管的发生率,改善吞咽功能,值得临床推广。

清乾嘉刑科题本所见北方宗族札记

以往明清华北宗族史研究,较多利用族谱、地方志、碑刻、文集等资料,但仍可进一步挖掘不同文类资料,扩展视野,加深认识。清朝处理命案形成的刑科题本,涉及宗族纠纷,可用来研究宗族问题。清嘉庆刑科题本表明,直隶、山西、山东、河南、陕西北方五省存在着宗族,多数都有族长管理,族长成为北方宗族组织的重要表征。其中,有的宗族还有宗谱、公有地以及宗祠,似乎说明宗族已在趋向组织化、制度化。

广东老年人居住安排状况的影响因素分析——基于地级市和县域数据的实证

依据2015年全国1%人口抽样调查数据,本文分析了2010-2015年广东老年人居住安排构成的变化和现状特征及其影响因素。广东老年人与成年亲属同住户占绝对优势,老年家庭空巢化程度有所减弱;部分地级市老年夫妇户已超过独居户成为第二位的居住安排类型;119个县域的老年人居住安排差异大于地级市,独居户比例和老年夫妇户比例偏高的县域主要分布于珠三角和粤西,老少同住户比例偏高的县域主要分布于粤西北山区,珠三角核心区县域老年空巢户比例明显高于粤东沿海区。实证分析发现,对地级市老年空巢户比例有负向影响且最显著的因素是平均家庭户规模、老年人生活不能自理比例和平均受教育年限,正向影响较显著的因素是老年男性比例、平均每户住房间数。对县域老年空巢户比例负向影响最大的因素是平均家庭户规模,正向影响较明显的因素是老年人口比例。老年人居住安排状况是宏观经济社会因素和微观家庭选择因素共同建构的结果。

面向视障老人家用医疗产品服务设计策略研究

为改善视障老人家用医疗产品服务体验,探究具体服务设计策略和路径。分析了视障老人的生理、心理与认知特征,通过挖掘用户感知、交互、情感等多维体验层次的服务触点,构建了视障老人用户角色模型,并总结了典型家用医疗产品的服务旅程图。从本体特征、交互方式、和智能技术三方面,提出了舒适度、易用性、情感性的服务体验策略,可为家用医疗产品视觉无障碍设计提供思路借鉴。

Digital literacy and financial market participation of middle-aged and elderly adults in China

Digital literacy has become increasingly important for individuals to participate in regular economic activities,including employment,consumption,and investment.This paper quantitatively defines digital literacy with recently released household survey data in China and describes the digital divide across regions and ages.We further show that digital literacy increases risky asset ownership in the financial market among the middle-aged and elderly population.In this sense,this paper identifies a novel factor that affects financial investment.These findings imply that the digital divide may lead to the asset divide and wealth inequality.Family and social assistance to improve the digital literacy of disadvantaged population groups may increase financial inclusion as well.

Living together with children and elderly:the impact of family structure on the consumption of migrants and residents in urban China

Using data from the first wave of the“China Family Dynamic Survey”conducted in 2014,this study compares the impact on consumption of the presence of children or elderly people in migrant households and to that in urban resident households,and then examines the extent to which lack of access to public services might explain the differences in consumption patterns that do exist.The results indicate that migrant households with infants and toddlers increase their consumption of healthcare services,while those with preschool children increase their consumption of educational services.Migrant households with elderly members significantly increase their consumption of healthcare services.The comparison of migrant households with urban resident households shows that there are considerable differences between migrant households and urban resident households in terms of how educational and healthcare expenditures are affected by the presence of children and elderly.The differences grow out of a huge gap in the accessibility of low-cost,subsidized public preschool education and government-funded health insurance programs.