Banking for Old Age: Quality of Life and Health Care Time Banking Decisions in China

Abstract

Background In China, time banking is an innovative form of mutual healthcare for older adults and a new approach to respond to an aging population. Quality of life is a comprehensive indicator of a person’s health status, but empirical evidence on how the quality of life impacts older people’s willingness to participate in time banking is lacking. This paper examines the impact of physical and mental quality of life on Chinese older adults’ willingness to participate in health care time banking. Methods Employing nationally representative data collected from 2147 respondents across 12 Chinese provinces, a linear probability model analyzed the relationship between quality of life and willingness for older people to participate in time banking, and robustness tests were conducted using logit and probit models. Results Fifty-eight (58%) percent of older adults were willing to participate in a volunteer time banking program. There was a significant positive correlation between physical quality of life and willingness of older adults to participate in time banking. Mental quality of life had a significant negative correlation with older adults’ time banking engagement decisions. Females, urban residents and the youngest older adults were more likely to participate in time banking. Conclusions Government should expand time banking; carry out time banking health promotion activities with different messages for females versus males, urban versus rural residents and physical QoL versus mental QoL residents; segment the target audiences by age; and through care time banking campaigns promote public social responsibility and support for China’s aging population.