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Understanding the Unmet Needs among Community-Dwelling Disabled Older People from a Linkage Perspective

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  • Danxian Wu

    (Key Laboratory of Regional Sustainable Development Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China)

  • Xiaolu Gao

    (Key Laboratory of Regional Sustainable Development Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China)

  • Zhifei Xie

    (University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
    Institute for the History of Nature Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China)

  • Zening Xu

    (China Institute for Urban Governance, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, China)

Abstract

One of the challenges in response to population aging is to meet needs for elderly care among older people especially for those who want to age in their homes or communities. However, disabled older people have more challenges due to their restricted mobility to access care resources than non-disabled ones. We propose a new framework based on the changing relationship between older people and their environment, in which resource linkage in elderly care utilization is emphasized. We conducted a survey with 139 participants (i.e., older people age 60 years or over with different level of disabilities) in three types of neighborhoods in Beijing, China. By conducting a decision tree analysis under the Person-Environment Link (P-E Link) model, we (1) characterized unmet needs for elderly care (activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) assistance) among community-dwelling disabled older people; (2) found disabled older people had more unmet needs for both ADL and IADL assistance because of a lack in linkages to care resources than non-disabled ones; and (3) characterized the linkages to care resources for better supporting disabled older people to age in place, including family support, social connection, and spatial environment. Our findings help improve the Anderson behavioral model by characterizing enabling environments, which highlights that not only the availability of enabling resources but also linkages to these enabling resources play an important role in meeting needs for care among disabled older people. Our findings can also inform improvements in policy design that are targeted to reduce elderly care inequalities.

Suggested Citation

  • Danxian Wu & Xiaolu Gao & Zhifei Xie & Zening Xu, 2021. "Understanding the Unmet Needs among Community-Dwelling Disabled Older People from a Linkage Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-15, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:2:p:389-:d:475830
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Robert Newcomer & Taewoon Kang & Mitchell LaPlante & Stephen Kaye, 2005. "Living Quarters and Unmet Need for Personal Care Assistance Among Adults With Disabilities," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 60(4), pages 205-213.
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    1. Ming-Hseng Tseng & Hui-Ching Wu, 2021. "Accessibility Assessment of Community Care Resources Using Maximum-Equity Optimization of Supply Capacity Allocation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-19, January.
    2. Luis Eduardo Genaro & José Victor Marconato & Elaine Pereira da Silva Tagliaferro & Felipe Eduardo Pinotti & Aylton Valsecki Júnior & Tânia Adas Saliba & Fernanda Lopez Rosell, 2024. "Home Care for the Elderly: An Integrated Approach to Perception, Quality of Life, and Cognition," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(5), pages 1-14, April.
    3. Xanthe Hunt & Melissa Bradshaw & Steyn Lodewyk Vogel & Alberto Vasquez Encalada & Shanice Eksteen & Marguerite Schneider & Kelly Chunga & Leslie Swartz, 2022. "Community Support for Persons with Disabilities in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-17, July.

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