Current dilemmas of nursing homes in Chengdu: a cross-sectional survey

Chengdu, China, is facing challenges from the growth of the elderly population. There are nursing homes in Chengdu, but there is no study on the current status of these nursing homes and their residents. The present study was conducted to investigate the current situation of nursing homes in Chengdu.

This cross-sectional study randomly selected 10 nursing agencies from the 110 agencies in Chengdu (5 main zones and districts) using a cluster random sampling method. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data.

Ten agencies (10%) were surveyed: 5 government-run social welfare, 2 collective run, and 3 private institutions. The basic service in the nursing home includes personal care, basic medical care, room cleaning, meals, and laundry. Standard setting, assessment, rehabilitation therapy, and some equipment and volunteer service monitoring are inadequate. Most care staff receive little training in elder care. Some have no qualified certification and they have low income, heavy work, and insufficient knowledge. The whole team has a high mobility.

Nursing homes in Chengdu are at a lower level than those in developed countries.