Development of the Hospice Care System in China in the Promotion of Healthy Ageing: Status and Recommendations for Problems

Abstract

Establishing and improving the hospice care system is an integrant part of healthy ageing. Currently, hospice care has been a part of the national healthcare services, and models of provision of hospice care using multi-agent approaches have been formed in China. Furthermore, the inpatient-outpatient-home-based hospice care model has begun to take shape. And some regions have also explored the guidance center-demonstration base-professional institutions-based system for promoting hospice care. However, many problems have been revealed during the development of the hospice care system, such as low coverage of hospice care, uneven distribution of hospice care resources, imperfect mechanisms for eligibility approval, performance assessment and ineligibility exit targeting hospice care provision institutions, and the absence of an integrated hospice care model. In view of this, we put forward the following recommendations: legally defining hospice care belonging to essential healthcare services in essence, improving the inpatient-outpatient-home-based hospice care model, building an integrated hospice care system focusing on home-based hospice care in communities, and establishing a national center-regional center-professional institutions-based hospice care promotion system.

Keywords

• hospice and palliative care nursing|health care reform|healthy aging|national health system|basic medical and health services