The impact of health status on elder care choice:evidence from China's CLHLS 2014 and 2018 panel data
10.16753/j.cnki.1008-2344.2025.06.002
- VernacularTitle:健康状况对老年人养老模式选择的影响
- Author:
Xiaoli WEI
1
;
Xu YUAN
;
Xiangjun ZHU
Author Information
1. 南京农业大学公共管理学院,江苏 南京 210095
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
elder care patterns;
health status;
physical function;
cognitive function;
elder care decision-making
- From:
Journal of Shenyang Medical College
2025;27(6):566-573
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective:To explore the effect of health status on the elder care choice,providing empirical evidence to optimize care provision and deepen the understanding of family risk-coping mechanisms.Method:Multinomial Logit model was used to examine the effects of health stock and health changes on the elder care choice,followed by an income heterogeneity analysis.Results:The impact of health status on the choice of elder care arrangements exhibited clear pathway differentiation and group heterogeneity.In the long-term effect,poor baseline cognitive ability was a key factor driving the elderly to turn to their children for elderly care,with each one-point decrease in the MMSE score increasing this probability by an average of 0.5 percentage points.In the short-term effect,an acute deterioration in either physical function(ΔADL)or cognitive ability(ΔMMSE)significantly increased the likelihood of transitioning to living with children,with the probabilities increasing by an average of 1.7 and 0.3 percentage points,respectively.In contrast,transitioning to institutional care—in both the long and short term—was driven solely by the deterioration of physical function,increasing the probability by 0.4 and 0.3 percentage points,respectively.The heterogeneity analysis further revealed that these clear decision pathways hold primarily for the high-income group,while the elder care choice of the low-income group was less sensitive to health indicators.Conclusion:The elder care choice is not solely determined by health risks but is a social process where health status and family economic resources are closely intertwined,ultimately manifesting as a divergence between the"strategic choices"of high-income groups and the"constrained reactions"of low-income groups.
