Willingness On Children Family Caregivers Use Of Long-term Care Services

With the aging population growing rapidly in China, the pressure to provide long-term care for seniors is increasing. Especially in recent years, it is obvious that family structure in our country is downsizing towards nuclear family structure. As a result, the phenomenon of empty nest for families with seniors is more common than ever, which makes it more difficult for a single family responsible for long-term care, therefore resources for family care are stretched. It is getting more and more difficult to rely solely on family members to meet the care needs of the elderly in the family and it is clear care service from outside family and effective intervention become more necessary. As an important part of the senior service security system, long-term care service plays a crucial role in protecting the senior group’s basic needs and rights, in assisting seniors with disability to maintain their ability to cope with the challenges of life, and in improving the quality of their life. The goals and intentions of family members who serve as the elder forward type caregivers are important factors to determine what kind of long term care the family wants.By using the Andersen health behavior analysis model, this paper explores the intention and the influential factors for adult children caregivers to choose long-term care services between institutions, community and family care. The results show that level of education, perceptions of care role responsibility and caregivers actual workload are important factors to impact service will and determine what kind of long term care the family wants.With the caregivers’ own load increasing and family care resources decreasing in an alarming speed, more and more senior citizens and their family members are seeking for support from the outside. However, affected by traditional culture, the responsibility of family caregivers is overvalued, and formal and informal care system are in independent operation., the intervention of social service is in difficulties. Therefore, many Children generation caregivers’ are forced to follow the path of family care, in difficult situation of heavy role load and the role coordination difficulties.Through in depth analysis and detailed assessment on the intention and the influential factors for Children generation caregivers in using services, the author tries to re-interpret family caregivers’ care role connotation, as well as the relationship between family caregivers and long-term care services system. The author puts forward some feasible suggestions that break up the isolating situation between the regulated long care system and informal care system.