Differences in the Potential Accessibility of Home-Based Healthcare Services among Different Groups of Older Adults: A Case from Shaanxi Province, China

• Main Authors: Lijian Wang, Xiaodong Di, Liu Yang, Xiuliang Dai
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-11-01
• Series: Healthcare
• Subjects: potential accessibility; healthcare service; perceived vulnerability; difference analysis
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/8/4/452

With the increase of the aging population and the lack of family care, home-based healthcare services have gradually become the main model to cope with aging, so local governments have invested heavily in the construction of home-based healthcare services. However, healthcare services still have problems such as low resource utilization and imbalanced development. The reason is that the supply and demand of healthcare services are not matched and the potential accessibility is low. Therefore, based on the supply and demand of healthcare services, this article pulls out the spatial and social factors that affect the potential accessibility, and tests the influence of individual factors on the potential accessibility among different groups of older adults. It is found that the perceived vulnerability of the older adults will reduce the potential accessibility of healthcare services. The psychosocial status, income and education level with the willingness to use healthcare services of the older adults are directly proportional, while residence has a negative impact on the potential accessibility. Finally, based on this finding, this article puts forward feasible suggestions from the perspective of policy content, publicity, and implementation.