Effectiveness of the continuum of care to promote older people's quality of life in Hong Kong

Objectives. The study aimed to investigate recipients’ adaptation of older care and the effectiveness of care services by comparing care recipients’ quality of life during transitions across the continuum over time. This continuum ideally describes an older adult’s successive use of social centre services, community care, and residential care. Methods. Three thousand older adults were surveyed using a comprehensive measure of quality of life. Results. Current users of residential care displayed the highest quality of life. In contrast, older care recipients who experienced transitions to community care exhibited the lowest quality of life. However, their quality of life increased with a longer duration of community care. Conclusion. Problems of adaptation tend to be responsible for the lower quality of life due to care transition. In contrast, increased adaptation with a longer time reverses the risk into fortune. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK Continuum of care The continuum of care for older people in Hong Kong refers to the provision of social services, community care, and residential care according to differential levels of need for each individual. Older care recipients shifted from one form of care service to another in relation to their changing needs. However, the transition between different services along the continuum of care had ramifications on their quality of life as did staying in the same service. Differences due to service transition and continuity tended to reflect the impacts of adaptation. 1,2 Accordingly, the older care recipient faces a greater challenge to adapt to the care provided by a service in relation to his or her own needs. In turn, this adaptation is a reflection of the effectiveness of the care service in meeting the needs of older care recipients. Data about older care recipients’ adaptation and the effectiveness of the continuum of care are scarce in Hong Kong as in other places. Such data would be useful to 1