OBJECTIVE To investigate and analyze the pharmaceutical care needs of the elderly， thus providing a reference for improving the pharmaceutical care for the elderly. METHODS Based on the Kano model， a questionnaire was designed， and 1 200 community-dwelling elderly in the main urban area of Chongqing were selected as the survey subjects. The study analyzed the attributes and urgency of their pharmaceutical care needs to put forward optimization strategies. RESULTS A total of 1 200 questionnaires were distributed in the study， and 1 062 valid questionnaires were collected， with an effective response rate of 88.50%. The gender distribution of respondents was relatively balanced， with the majority aged between 60 and 69 （43.41%）， and generally possessing a relatively low level of educational attainment. The results showed that medication education and medication consultation were must-be needs； home-based pharmaceutical care was an expected need； drug reorganization， medication monitoring， pharmaceutical science popularization， and pharmaceutical ward round were attractive needs； internet-based pharmaceutical care was indifferent need. The urgent order of demand was medication education ＞ medication consultation ＞ home-based pharmaceutical care ＞ pharmaceutical science popularization ＞ drug reorganization ＞ medication monitoring ＞ pharmaceutical ward round ＞ internet-based pharmaceutical care. CONCLUSIONS The community elderly in Chongqing have high expectations for pharmaceutical care as a whole. Medical institutions should fully guarantee the two essential needs of medication education and medication consultation， and focus on ensuring the expected needs for home-based pharmaceutical care. Efforts should be made to develop the four attractive needs of pharmaceutical science popularization， drug reorganization， medication monitoring， and pharmaceutical ward round， and actively carry out age-friendly adaptations for internet-based pharmaceutical care.