Factors determining assistance needs for social voluntary services among home-based elderly in Chinese urban areas: a cross-sectional study

Abstract Background With a rapidly aging population in China, it is becoming increasingly challenging to meet the growing diversified care needs of the elderly. Although social voluntary services has numerous advantages and is popular among the elderly, little information is available on the assistance requirements of the volunteer-based social service, particularly those with a medical background and influencing factors among the urban home-based elderly. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in four urban communities in Wuhan, Ezhou, Xinxiang, and Zhengzhou. Assistance needs was assessed using the 27-item Home-based Elderly Assistance Need Scale in 498 participants, aged 60 years and over. Multiple linear regression models were conducted to identify salient variables associated with assistance needs for social voluntary services. Results The mean score of assistance needs was 88.60 +/- 24.37. The item mean scores examining 4 dimensions, namely, health maintenance, visiting communication, social intercourse, and daily life were 3.64 +/- 1.08, 3.49 +/- 1.04, 3.33 +/- 1.08, and 2.78 +/- 1.08, respectively. The level of depression, willingness to help other elderly people, attaching importance to health preservation, willingness to seek help from others, existence of more children, and living parents were positively associated with assistance needs for social voluntary services, while social care from government departments was a negative factor. The aforementioned seven factors explained 28.4% of the total variance. Conclusions The urban home-based elderly population exhibited a high assistance demand for social volunteer services in China, and several complex factors were associated with an elevated assistance need. Our findings are beneficial for the extremely limited social volunteers, particularly, those with a medical background, to identify the priority of providing assistance services to the huge urban home-based elderly population, and improve service behavior.