Old age security in rural China: there is a long way to go.
OBJECTIVE
We aimed to examine the current developments and challenges confronted by old age security in rural China.


METHODS
This study is based on the data from PubMed, Elsevier, Wiley, EBSCO, EMBASE, SCI Expanded, ProQuest, Google, and CNKI which is the most informative database in Chinese.


METHODS
Articles were selected with the search terms "rural", "China", "old", "older", or "elder", "elderly", or "aged", "aging", "security", "culture", "value", "medical insurance" or "community based medical insurance" or "cooperative medical scheme". Related websites and yearbooks were searched as well.


RESULTS
The socio-economic development has made the burden of traditional care for the rural elderly heavier than ever, and new challenges are emerging in rural communities, such as poor economic, deteriorating natural environment and health crisis.


CONCLUSIONS
The governments should improve the scale and caliber of rural old age security and strengthen regulations with great efforts in developing the rural economy and protecting the natural environment of rural communities.
Department of Health Security, School of Management, Jiangsu University; Research Institute for New Rural Development of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu 212013, China.
Bao-Zhen
BZ
Dai
Lu-Lin
LL
Zhou
Y John
YJ
Mei
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009826:Old Age Assistance / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*