Population aging is a consistent global demographic trend. The growth in both the size and proportion of older adults has threatened the sustainability of health systems in meeting healthcare needs of the population. Countries in the Asia-Pacific Region may face even more complex health system challenges due to the diversity in culture, management and leadership styles, composition of health service provision, investment in research infrastructure and innovation adaptation, data availability, and gaps in information technology.

Population aging is a consistent global demographic trend. The growth in both the size and proportion of older adults has threatened the sustainability of health systems in meeting healthcare needs of the population. Countries in the Asia-Pacific Region may face even more complex health system challenges due to the diversity in culture, management and leadership styles, composition of health service provision, investment in research infrastructure and innovation adaptation, data availability, and gaps in information technology. The Asia-Pacific is home to more than half of the world’s population and comprises countries across five Asia-Pacific subregions: East and North-East Asia, North and Central Asia, Pacific, South East Asia, South, and South West Asia. The economies are diverse, including six high-income countries (such as Australia, Brunei, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, and Singapore), low-income countries (Nepal and North Korea), and middle-income countries. The region also includes some of the fastest-growing economies in the world, including China, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Informed by the social-ecological framework, this book focuses on the development of Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) in urban China. Bringing a timely discussion around HCBS development in Shanghai, it presents an interplay of formal caregiving relationships, evolving caregiving culture, and the trajectory of long-term care in China. Drawing on surveys, in-depth interviews, and government archives, this book explores the emergence of one of the most developed HCBS programs in Shanghai, its development over the past decade, its administration and services, resource allocation, staff members’ work experiences, older adults’ service experiences, as well as service evaluation and improvements. Offering fresh insight into new forms of caregiving in community settings, and shaping a new discourse on caregiving policy, this book is a key read for both students and practitioners in the fields of long-term care, gerontology, geriatrics, health care, and health policy.

This book provides an overview of the ongoing transition in China’s health system, especially focusing on the new healthcare reform initiated in 2009. First, it reviews the changes in China’s healthcare system from the 1950s to 2008, establishing the situation when the reform was introduced. The book subsequently analyzes the social and economic context in which the health system is embedded. Since the primary focus is on the new healthcare reform, the book introduces the blueprint and the year-for-year development of the new healthcare reform, as well as the specific reforms in health financing, public hospitals, and primary care. Given its central importance in the health system, the book also described major trends in long-term care in the past several years. In addition, it examines the health policy-making process with a case study of the New Cooperative Medical Scheme of China. Lastly, the book assesses the performance of China’s health system and predicts future developmental trends.

The book investigates digitalisation in care for older people by giving insight into service users’ and professionals’ opportunities to digital agency in the context of European welfare states. With a focus on service users and providers experiences of digital care, the contributions address the manifold and often contradictory consequences of active ageing policies and innovation programmes. To assess digital agency of older people, ageism and co-creation in the innovation processes as well the use of digital platforms are addressed, while care professionals’ digital agency is examined through empirical cases that focus on the interaction between human and non-human actors in long-term care services, the temporality and spatiality of care, and the organisational requirements for successful implementation of digital technologies. From a variety of conceptual and theoretical viewpoints, the chapters provide a comprehensive and timely overview of ways to address the phenomena of ageing and digitalisation. The book provides critical vantage points to academic readership, health and social care professionals, policymakers, other stakeholders as well as the general audience on the effects of digitalisation in care for older people. "The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license. The Open Access fee was funded by University of Jyvaskyla, Finland."

The first part of the book is entitled 'Family, Transition and Ageing' and addresses rapid social and economic changes in China through a kaleidoscope of differential perspectives that focus on how family continues to be an important reference point for the past, present and future institution in the care of older people. The second part of the book focuses on the tangible social forces associated with managing old age: 'Welfare, Consumption and Ageing'. This section is important in locating the structures and agents of power that are relevant to maintaining trust and social relations between older people, the Chinese State and its dualism of state welfare and consumption of welfare.

Recognizing rapidly ageing population is one key concern faced by cities and the challenge it would present to healthcare system, this book looks at ageing in China’s population as well as the delivery and financing of long-term care (LTC) in China. The book compares key features of long-term care insurance (LTCI) schemes in 15 pilot cities and evaluates the sustainability of various financing models adopted by the cities in the LTCI schemes. The book uses an interpretive case study approach to give an in-depth look into the LTC models in three pilot cities – Qingdao, Nantong, and Shanghai. The three cities represent three different models of financing and delivering LTC. To assess how effective the LTC models in these three cities are, the book uses five criteria, including utilization of medical resources, cost, equity, quality of care and sustainability. Also, the authors discuss how the financing and delivery of LTC can be improved in China, the impact of the 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on older adults in need of LTC in the country and the implications of China’s LTCI reform for other countries. The book will be a useful reference to scholars and policy-makers who look at urban ageing and healthcare costs and delivery.

China, which is fast on its way to becoming the most powerful economic force in the world, has four unique characteristics that distinguish it from other countries in Asia: (1) The proportion of aging population is growing faster than that of Japan (the country previously recognized as having the fastest rate) and much faster than nations in western Europe. (2) An early arrival of an aging population before modernization has fully taken place, with social policy implications. It is certain that China will face a severely aged population before it has sufficient time and resources to establish an adequate social security and service system for older people. (3) There will be fluctuations in the total dependency ratio. The Chinese government estimates are that the country will reach a higher dependent burden earlier in the twenty-first century than was previously forecast. (4) The government’s fertility policy (single child per family) and its implementation has a strong influence on the aging process. Fewer children are being born, but with more elderly people a conflict arises between the objectives to limit population increase and yet maintain a balanced age structure (Peng and Guo 2001). The intersection of these fourfold factors means that the increased aging population is giving rise to serious concerns among Chinese social policy makers. There is a chronic lack of good resource materials that attempt to make sense of social policy in its relationship to examining the problems and possibilities of human aging grounded in an analysis of economic of social policy in China and impact on rural and urban spaces. Such analysis of China will be covered by conceptual, theoretical, and empirical approaches. The book will also discuss substantive topics of housing, community care, family care, pensions, and mental health. The book brings together a truly world class array of researchers to provide discussions of critical implications of aging social policy and the economic impact in China.

Family caregiving affects millions of Americans every day, in all walks of life. At least 17.7 million individuals in the United States are caregivers of an older adult with a health or functional limitation. The nation's family caregivers provide the lion's share of long-term care for our older adult population. They are also central to older adults' access to and receipt of health care and community-based social services. Yet the need to recognize and support caregivers is among the least appreciated challenges facing the aging U.S. population. Families Caring for an Aging America examines the prevalence and nature of family caregiving of older adults and the available evidence on the effectiveness of programs, supports, and other interventions designed to support family caregivers. This report also assesses and recommends policies to address the needs of family caregivers and to minimize the barriers that they encounter in trying to meet the needs of older adults.