Factors associated with nursing home entry for older people in Taiwan, Republic of China

Abstract

Taiwan is facing a rapid change in the composition of its population. As the population ages, a greater demand for long-term care services and, in particular, nursing homes is expected. Before deciding who really needs nursing home care, it is important for policy makers to understand the current pattern of utilisation and what factors are associated with entry. This research assesses the relative importance of predisposing, enabling and need factors that lie behind this. It is based on a survey of elderly people in registered nursing homes, a comparison with a national sample of elderly people in their own homes and interviews with the lucid elderly patients (i.e. could communicate with no problems) and their carers. It was found that nursing home entry was associated with advanced age, gender, educational level and dependency levels of elderly people. After controlling for age, need factors have the greatest impact on admission. Specific medical problems such as cardiovascular, neurological and skeletal muscular diseases were also major contributors. Although most elderly people in Taiwan are cared for in their own homes by their families, under certain circumstances entry to a nursing home seemed inevitable. Decisions about nursing home entry were mainly taken within a family context with adult children being the main players while professionals played a relatively minimal role.

Correlates of institutionalized senior veterans' quality of life in Taiwan

“…Support of friends was also positively correlated to social relationship, and environmental domains of QOL. Social support is important to health outcomes and has a positive effect on QOL [28,29], and good social relationships are the most commonly reported constituent influencing QOL in the elderly [30]. In the present study, however, these senior veterans received limited social support from their relatives and friends.…”

“…Among who had ever married, 64.7% had children, however, 60% of these children never supplied any support to their father due to residing outside of Taiwan. Factors associated with admission to LTC facilities included old age, living alone, low socio-economic status [29], marital status, financial means and children's opinions [30]. With reference to our study, senior veterans who are elderly, live alone and have a low socio-economic status tend to have little opportunity to live well in the community, and choose to be placed in VHs.…”

Optimism and Planning for Future Care Needs among Older Adults

“…Several lines of evidence suggest that PFC and extent of future orientation has public health relevance because planning for circumstances in late life, long-term care, and end-of-life care increases the ability of older adults to make informed choices about long-term care options – and it protects their emotional well-being (Aspinwall, 1997; Caron, Ducharme, & Griffith, 2006; Congdon & Magilvy, 2004; Forbes & Hoffart, 1998; Howlett, Kees, & Kemp, 2008; Liu & Tinker, 2001; Maloney, Finn, Bloom, & Andresen, 1996; Pinquart & Sörensen, 2002b; Sörensen, Mak, Chapman, Duberstein, & Lyness, 2012a; Travis & McAuley, 1998). Similarly, optimism has been linked to positive health outcomes (Rasmussen, Scheier, & Greenhouse, 2009; Rasmussen, Wrosch, Scheier, & Carver, 2006), though the effects of unrealistic optimism on health behaviors are often negative (Barnoy, Bar-Tal, & Treister, 2003; Miles & Scaife, 2003), potentially placing individuals at risk for negative health outcomes.…”

Protective factors against suicide among young-old Chinese outpatients

“…It is not common for older adults in Taiwan to live in a nursing home unless their daily care presents considerable difficulty for their adult children [45], who are expected in Chinese society to take on the responsibility of caring for their aging parents. Moreover, older Taiwanese nursing home residents consider a nursing home as ‘a temporary home to nurture health’ with highly structured lifestyle, restricted activities, safety concerns and social interactions with others [46].…”