Department of Sociology, The University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0SZ, UK.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Aug 1;19(15):9440. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19159440.
Mainland China has been concerned about the national growth rate of older adults aged 60 or above. The rapid growth of the cohort of older adults will significantly burden the Chinese healthcare system as they are at higher risk of suffering from chronic illnesses and functional disabilities. In geriatrics, aged populations often endure a wide range of diseases, dysfunctions, and cognitive impairment, so the corresponding healthcare services needed for them are substantial. The rise in the older adults' life expectancy has compounded the burden of the healthcare system in mainland China in the long term. In this narrative essay, it is important to discuss how the state should assume a higher share of relevant responsibilities, by assessing how Chinese policymaking has been transformed to better satisfy the older population's care and healthcare needs in mainland China. It is also pivotal to focus on analysing relevant Chinese policy development within the most recent dozen years to address how China's state and local governments have been progressing in promptly providing health and older population care services to older Chinese adults. Because of the supply shortage and low quality of older population caregivers and alternative professionals, it is necessary to discuss and highlight the need to reskill or upskill relevant caregivers. As the trend of rural-to-urban labour migration continues, working adults of rural origins increasingly cannot provide domestic older population care, and human investment in training caregivers is an urgent task of Chinese policymaking. Therefore, how Chinese policymaking encourages upskilling or reskilling relevant caregivers is examined in this narrative essay.
中国大陆一直关注 60 岁及以上老年人的全国增长率。老年人群体的快速增长将给中国的医疗保健系统带来巨大负担，因为他们患慢性病和功能障碍的风险更高。在老年医学领域，老年人群体经常患有各种疾病、功能障碍和认知障碍，因此他们需要大量的相应医疗保健服务。老年人预期寿命的提高从长期来看增加了中国大陆医疗保健系统的负担。在这篇叙述性文章中，重要的是要讨论国家应该承担更高份额的相关责任，评估中国的决策制定如何发生转变，以更好地满足中国大陆老年人口的护理和医疗保健需求。还需要重点分析最近十几年中国相关政策的发展，以了解中国的国家和地方政府在及时向中国老年人提供健康和老年人口护理服务方面取得的进展。由于老年人口护理员和替代专业人员的供应短缺和质量低下，有必要讨论和强调需要对相关护理员进行再培训或技能提升。由于农村向城市劳动力迁移的趋势持续，农村出身的成年劳动力越来越无法提供家庭老年人口护理，对护理员的人力投资是中国决策制定的紧迫任务。因此，本文探讨了中国的决策制定如何鼓励相关护理员的技能提升。
