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

Aim: This study aims to investigate the organisation and the workforce profile in long -term care facilities in Hangzhou City, China.Background: 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.Methods: 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.Results: 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\u27s insurance was significantly different between the two types of facilities. Despite the government-owned facili-ties 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 counter-parts in the private facilities.Conclusion: The shift arrangement needs to be improved. The low education level, long working hours and low remuneration of care workers were barriers for the de-velopment of the long-term care services.Implications for Nursing Management: 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