Needs, reciprocity and shared function: Policy and practice of elderly care in Changchun city, Jilin Province, China.

摘要

This is an exploratory and descriptive study on elderly care in urban China. Utilizing theories of social exchange and shared function as the theoretical framework, the author attempts to explore the current situation of elderly care from multi-levels, i.e. family, community and organization levels, in Changchun city which is a big industrial base of northeast China. Based on a combined approach of data collection, including a purposive sample survey, focus groups and in-depth interviews, the author first examined the elderly's needs for care, then analyzed generational reciprocity between the elderly and their adult children, and finally explored how informal care and formal care shared the complementary roles in providing support for the elderly in the community. The data gathered from diverse sources have enriched our knowledge and understanding about the contextual meaning and process of elderly care in China.; Quantitative data analysis based on the purposively-sampled survey of 194 elderly over 60 years old in this study indicated that, the needs for economic and medical care were the two significant aspects to maintain the well-being of the elderly; elderly and their adult children reciprocated each other in daily lives and the care provided by the children is still indispensable for the elderly currently; formal care for the urban elderly covers pension, medical care and social services, which are provided by the work units and civil affairs department.; Qualitative data analysis based on document review of community service policies, focus groups of elderly's adult children and in-depth interviews of the cadres of community and formal organizations, showed that there was a sharing responsibility in providing care through mutual reliance and mutual support. However, there was a gap of care, which could be attributed to the resource shortage and social arrangement of elderly care, since family care has encountered serious challenge during the dramatic socio-economic transition in urban areas. The author envisaged that an increasing amount of care, particularly for those marginalized elderly who are poor, sick and very old. Implications for policy, practice and further research directions were addressed in the final chapter of the dissertation.