Perceptions of long-term care, autonomy, and dignity, by residents, family and caregivers: the Beijing experience

This article documents the results of a study on the perceptions of long-term elder care in Beijing in the People's Republic of China by those most intimately involved. The study asked a sample of elderly, family members, and health care professionals, all of whom are involved in care at a variety of long-term care facilities in Beijing, about their perceptions of the care given at these facilities from their particular standpoints as regards issues such as the quality and ideal location of care, decision-making regarding the care receiving, who should be responsible for the financing of care, and the meaning of dignity for the elderly in these facilities. The results showed adherence to traditional family values at least on one level regarding the ideal location of care being with the family and in the home, but also the desire to pass on financing of long-term care facilities and the health care they provide the elderly on to the government. These results are not altogether surprising, but they also clearly demonstrate the larger conflict between traditional views about morality and economic considerations regarding health care financing in the China.