ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health Policy
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1562889
This article is part of the Research TopicHealth Policy Approaches to Chronic Disease ManagementView all articles
Text analysis of rehabilitation nursing policy in China from the perspective of policy tools
Provisionally accepted
- Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China
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Objective: This study aims to analyze the specific content and structural characteristics of rehabilitation nursing-related policies in China from 2007 to 2024, utilizing the perspective of policy tools. The goal is to provide insights for the subsequent optimization and enhancement of the rehabilitation nursing policy system.According to the classification method of policy instruments proposed by public policy scholars Rothwell and Zegveld, this study identified the X dimension (basic policy instrument) and categorized the included policies into demand-oriented, supply-oriented, and environment-based policies. Simultaneously, in light of multilevel service needs, an analysis of the elements constituting the rehabilitation nursing system was conducted in conjunction with existing research. This led to the summarization of five levels within the rehabilitation nursing system: nursing staff, service objectives, service items, service methods, and safeguard measures. These levels were designated as the Y dimension (service system) for this study. Utilizing this two-dimensional analytical framework, researchers classified and coded relevant policy texts that met established criteria. Subsequently, they analyzed their content and performed a quantitative assessment regarding both quantity and distribution patterns.Results: A total of 41 policy documents were analyzed, resulting in the extraction of 292 policy terms, and in dimension X, environment-based, supply-based, and demand-based policy instruments comprised 46.58%, 36.64%, and 16.78% respectively. In dimension Y, nursing staff, service objectives, service items, service methods, and safeguard measures accounted for 22.95%, 12.67%, 12.67%, 20.89%, and 25.00% respectively. Overall, the rehabilitation nursing policy in China is predominantly characterized by environment-based policy tools, while demand-based policy tools are comparatively underrepresented.The government has increasingly prioritized rehabilitation nursing care; consequently, the current policy framework is evolving towards greater specialization, standardization, and systematization. Nevertheless, there remains a need to optimize the structural application of policy tools further, particularly concerning enhancing the utilization of demand-side policy instruments.
Keywords: policy tools, Rehabilitation care, Nursing policy, text analysis, Public Health
Received: 18 Jan 2025; Accepted: 14 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Zhu and Zhu. 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: Xuehua Zhu, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China
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