Exploring ways to improve the quality of life of older adults through home-based social care services in China

Abstract

Population aging in China has moved beyond being a demographic backdrop to social policy and has become a force that reshapes everyday care arrangements, the distribution of family burden, and the boundaries of state responsibility. Against this background, home-based care is increasingly viewed not as a supplementary option but as a core mechanism for maintaining the quality of life of older adults. Yet the link between service expansion and quality-of-life improvement is not linear. The mere existence of a service does not ensure accessibility, and accessibility alone does not guarantee stable outcomes when services fail to reflect functional limitations, social isolation, urban-rural disparities, and the overload experienced by family caregivers. The aim of this article is to identify which directions in the development of home-based social care services in China are most strongly associated with improving the quality of life of older adults. The study is based on an analysis of academic publications, statistical materials, and policy documents related to home and community-based care, long-term care, and the assessment of older adults’ well-being. The findings suggest that the strongest effects are produced not by basic daily support alone, but by its combination with medical assistance, social inclusion, targeted service delivery, and support for family caregiving. At the same time, the expansion of service supply does not automatically reduce territorial and social inequality. This is particularly visible where the formal growth of the system outpaces its workforce capacity and organizational maturity.