Skip to main content

Table 3 Homebound Chinese older adults’ quotes on home health care experiences

From: A qualitative study of home health care experiences among Chinese homebound adults

HHC services

Quotes

Reasons they accept HHC

7: “My apartment is on the fourth floor, the building doesn’t have an elevator. My legs are not good, so I can’t go downstairs at all. It’s too inconvenient for me to get out and see a doctor, so I applied for this (home health care).”

8: “Last time, when I went to the hospital, [the doctor] told me that he could come to my apartment to check my wounds and change my dressings. Since then I don’t go out anymore when it’s not necessary. I’ll go to the hospital only when [the doctor] tells me to go.”

Participants’ positive experiences

9: “Of course this (home health care) is very convenient. The stairs in my building are very steep. My son used to carry me down every time. This service (home health care) is quite good, in many ways!”

10: “I’m so thankful to my doctor. She saved my life. There was a time when she did a checkup for me and she found that my heart was about to stop beating, I didn’t feel it myself, but she insisted on sending me to the hospital. After a pacemaker was put in my body, my heart rate came back to normal. I am grateful for the rest of my life!”

11: “[The doctor] is exceptionally nice, he treats us (his patients) as if we were his relatives. [The doctor] is a good doctor and every one of us says he is very nice and we all respect him.”

12: “The doctor knows my condition very well and takes great care of me. He always comes to see me and we are like friends!”

13: “Dr. Xu’s acupuncture and electrotherapy were very helpful to my health, they were pretty effective for me. I couldn’t lift my neck or cervical spine before, but after she gave me acupuncture, I was able to lift it a little bit, which is quite good.”

14: “My spouse and I are both covered by the Urban Employee Medical Insurance. We first pay a 300 yuan premium, and then the costs of home visits and medical services are paid by the health insurance account. The insurance reimbursement rate is quite high, so we don’t need to spend that much money.”

Participants’ negative experiences

15: “The medical and examination equipment they (the doctors) are using is outdated. The quantity of such equipment should be increased. The more advanced the equipment they use, the more they could help us.”

16: “The community hospital is too crowded, there is not enough space, can my doctor give me an IV at home?”

17: “The doctor’s visits are too short in duration, he just takes a look at me and then leaves, it doesn’t even take ten minutes. I wish the doctor would examine me more thoroughly!”

18: “There are many patients like us but there are only a few doctors providing this service (HHC), older people like us need this service, and we hope the number of doctors who do home visits would increase.”

19: “The first home-visit provider did not do well. His massage was very painful and made me upset. My heart was very tired and the massage was poorly done. I don’t think his technical skill was good enough or maybe he was inexperienced.”