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Symposium

Social Research, Policy, and Practice

End-of-Life Care and Decision-Making in China: How to Improve End-of-Life Care Quality?

Saturday, November 16, 2024
8:00 AM – 9:30 AM PST
Location: Room 606
CE: 1.5

Alongside population aging comes the challenges of providing quality end-of-life care in China, where the largest and most rapidly growing older adults reside. Mounting qualitative evidence has documented the culturally different needs, experiences, and barriers of end-of-life care and decision-making among older Chinese, but the quantitative evidence is lacking. Aligned with GSA 2024’s theme, this symposium uses national and regional data to investigate potential “fortitude factors” that can improve end-of-life qualities for older adults and reduce burden for caregivers in China. The first paper will share policy-relevant findings on the urban-rural differences in pain, place of death, and their associations with the use of pain treatment at the end of life, a cornerstone of end-of-life dignity. The second paper will turn the attention to caregivers and present a population-based study on the individual- and household-level factors that may contribute to end-of-life caregiving burden and the role of the COVID-19 pandemic. Two studies on end-of-life care decision-making with a dyadic perspective will then be presented. The third one will focus on the children’s role, considering both number of children and financial responsibilities, in deciding end-of-life treatments for their parents under the culture of filial piety, using retrospective data. The fourth one will then describe older adults’ preferences for involvement and roles in their future end-of-life care decision-making with their loved ones and doctors, using regional survey data. Lastly, our discussant, Dr. Bei Wu, will synthesize these presentations and discuss the policy and practice implications in improving “good death” in China.

Learning Objectives:

  • After attending this session, participants will be able to gain perspectives on a wide range of factors in relation to end-of-life care quality and decision-making in diverse samples of older adults in China.
  • After attending this session, participants will be able to describe implications in practice and policy to improve end-of-life quality among older adults in China.

Presentations:

  • 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM PST
    Pain, Place of Death, and Use of Pain Treatment at the End of Life: Urban–Rural Difference Among Chinese Older Adults

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Yaolin Pei, PhD (she/her/hers) – University of Texas at Austin

  • 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM PST
    The Caregiving Burden of Chinese Older Adults at the End of Life: The Role of Living Arrangement and COVID-19 Pandemic

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Shuo Zhang, PhD Student (she/her/hers) – Renmin University of China

  • 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM PST
    Blame-Shifting or Sharing Responsibility? Children's Role in Chinese Older Adults' End-of-Life Medical Decisions

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Lu Chen, PhD student (she/her/hers) – Renmin University of China

  • 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM PST
    Chinese Older Adults' Preferences for Involvement in End-of-Life Care Decisions: Causes and Outcomes

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Yifan Lou, PhD, LMSW (she/her/hers) – Virginia Commonwealth University