Long-term care system for older adults in China: policy landscape, challenges, and future prospects

Abstract

In China, the population is rapidly ageing and the capacity of the system that cares for older people is increasingly a concern. In this Review, we provide a profile of the long-term care system and policy landscape in China. The long-term care system is characterised by rapid growth of the residential care sector, slow development of home and community-based services, and increasing involvement of the private sector. The long-term care workforce shortage and weak quality assurance are concerning. Public long-term care financing is minimal and largely limited to supporting welfare recipients and subsidising the construction of residential care beds and operating costs. China is piloting social insurance long-term care financing models and, concurrently, programmes for integrating health care and long-term care services in selected settings across the country; the effectiveness and sustainability of these pilots remain to be seen. Informed by international long-term care experiences, we offer policy recommendations to strengthen the evolving care system for older people in China.