title: Care services for elderly people with dementia in rural China: a case study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the state of the health and supportive services available to elderly people with dementia - and their families - in rural Lanxi county, in the province of Zhejiang, China.
  
  
  METHODS
  In November 2014 and January 2015, we interviewed 14 key informants on dementia care face-to-face, using a semi-structured questionnaire. The informants included three rural physicians, an urban geriatrician, seven directors of institutions for the care of the elderly and three officials of the civil affairs bureau. We also completed in-depth interviews with five family caregivers of elderly people with dementia.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The interviewees indicated that there was a lack of specialized services designed specifically to address the needs of individuals with dementia and their family members. Non-psychiatric medical services and the available facilities for long-term care appeared to be ill-equipped to manage these needs. They lacked both clinical staff and standardized, evidence-based practices for the diagnosis, care, treatment and rehabilitation of patients with dementia. As care facilities often refused to admit elderly people with dementia, families were generally forced to care for elderly relatives with dementia at home.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In Lanxi county - and probably in much of rural China - more public resources are needed to support family caregivers and to improve the capacity of care facilities for the elderly to care for individuals with dementia.
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Policy Studies, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Zijingang Campus, 866 Yuhangtang Rd, Hangzhou, 310058 China .
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Policy Studies, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Zijingang Campus, 866 Yuhangtang Rd, Hangzhou, 310058 China .
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China .
authors.forename: Shulin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Policy Studies, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Zijingang Campus, 866 Yuhangtang Rd, Hangzhou, 310058 China .
authors.forename: Hengjin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dong
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology; D002681:China; D003704:Dementia / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D005851:Geriatric Nursing; D006296:Health Services / Q000145:classification* / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012424:Rural Population