Long-term care services and care workers in Hangzhou City, China: A cross-sectional survey

This study aims to investigate the organisation and the workforce profile in long-term care facilities in Hangzhou City, China.

Population ageing calls for an increase in the number of high-quality, long-term care services. Therefore, there is a pressing need to understand how these services are organized and the qualifications of their workforce.

A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted among 293 care workers in 21 certified long-term care facilities in Hangzhou City, China. Comparison between government-owned and private facilities was conducted.

In total, there were 8,898 beds, 5,468 residents and 887 care workers in the facilities surveyed. As the total bed occupancy rate was 61.5%, there appeared to be adequate facilities in the city. The ratio of care workers to residents was similar in both the government-owned and private facilities, 1 care worker to 6.16 residents. For dependent residents, this ratio was 1-3.50. Organisation of the care services in terms of shift pattern, in-job training and care worker's insurance was significantly different between the two types of facilities. Despite the government-owned facilities being better organized than the private ones, both types of aged care facilities had a 24-hr-long shift. Although their monthly wage was similar, care workers in the government-owned facilities received better job-related insurance, were younger, had longer years of aged care work experience, were better educated and held more aged care certificates and received more frequent in-job training than their counterparts in the private facilities.

The shift arrangement needs to be improved. The low education level, long working hours and low remuneration of care workers were barriers for the development of the long-term care services.

In order to improve the quality of long-term care services in China, the organisation of work, qualifications and payment of care workers need to be improved.