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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1464718
This article is part of the Research Topic Analyses on Health Status and Care Needs among Older Adults View all 30 articles

The Challenge of Home and Community Elderly Care in China: A Survey of the Capability of Primary Care Physicians in Providing Geriatric Healthcare Services

Provisionally accepted
Xiufang Chen Xiufang Chen 1Kun Xie Kun Xie 1Yahui Li Yahui Li 1Dan Hu Dan Hu 2*Jiaying Chen Jiaying Chen 1,2,3*
  • 1 Kangda College, Nanjing Medical University, Lian Yungang, China
  • 2 Centre for Health Policy Studies, School of Health Policy and Management, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
  • 3 China Rural Health Association, Beijing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    In the context of ageing at home and in the community, healthcare services for elderly people in China are mainly provided by primary care physicians (PCPs). This study aimed to understand the level of geriatric healthcare service capability of PCPs in China and to give recommendations for improving care. Methods: We surveyed PCPs in the eastern, central, and western regions of China, using a combination of multi-stage stratified cluster sampling and typical sampling. We evaluated the capability of PCPs in geriatric healthcare services in terms of diagnosis and treatment of common diseases, health management of the elderly, and health management of patients with chronic diseases. We compared the capability of PCPs in different regions, in urban and rural areas, and with different characteristics. Results: We found that Chinese primary care doctors had a low level of education and tended to be older in age. We also found a lack of general practitioners in China. Among the 8,469 respondents, 6,497 (76.7%) could diagnose and treat common diseases; 7,755 (91.6%) were capable of managing the health of the elderly, and 7,787 (91.9%) could manage the health of patients with chronic diseases. Conclusion: Results indicated that China's primary care physician workforce was of low quality. There were deficiencies in all competencies in geriatric healthcare services, and there were differences in capability between urban and rural areas. The findings suggest China's primary healthcare services should be strengthened with targeted training and an emphasis should be placed on developing basic skills in geriatric healthcare services.

    Keywords: home-based elderly care1, PCPs2, diagnostic capability3, Chronic illness4, health management5

    Received: 15 Jul 2024; Accepted: 09 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Chen, Xie, Li, Hu and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Dan Hu, Centre for Health Policy Studies, School of Health Policy and Management, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 211166, Jiangsu Province, China
    Jiaying Chen, Kangda College, Nanjing Medical University, Lian Yungang, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.