International Journal of Clinical Case Reports, 2025, Vol.15, No.6, 283-292 http://medscipublisher.com/index.php/ijccr 284 2 Current Situation of Home Care for Disabled Elderly People 2.1 Multi-dimensional care needs of elderly people with disabilities Disabled elderly people living at home have many care needs in terms of physical health, psychology, social interaction and living environment. They usually need someone to help with basic daily tasks such as eating, dressing, bathing and walking (ADL), and also need someone to assist with daily tasks that require tools or skills such as getting medicine, shopping and doing housework (norvilaitnik et al., 2024). In addition, many elderly people also require long-term medical treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care. After all, there are a particularly large number of people with chronic diseases and multiple diseases in this group (Zhang et al., 2022; Huang et al., 2025). They also need emotional companionship and social opportunities very much, because disabled elderly people often have no one to keep them company and feel lonely in their hearts, which makes them more vulnerable and affects their overall living conditions. According to the severity of the disability and age of the elderly with disabilities, their care needs should be flexibly arranged. The International Classification Framework for Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) divides these needs into three categories: physical functioning, daily activities and environmental support, and particularly emphasizes the provision of comprehensive care (Zhou et al., 2024). However, the current care system still cannot fully meet these demands, especially in aspects such as social assistance, rehabilitation services, and helping the elderly achieve independent living (Wu et al., 2021). Diverse and long-term services are crucial for improving the quality of life of the elderly. However, due to insufficient resources and poor service connection, many elderly people still do not receive adequate care. 2.2 Characteristics of home caregivers and the nature of their care tasks Home care for elderly people with disabilities mostly relies on non-professional caregivers, usually family members such as spouses, adult children or relatives (Zhang et al., 2022). Most of these caregivers are middle-aged and elderly people. Many of them have to take care of the elderly as well as undertake other family responsibilities (Gao and Tang, 2025). The job of caregivers is not easy. They not only have to do physical labor for the elderly, but also provide them with emotional comfort, arrange medical matters, and deal with complex health problems (Norvilaitnik et al., 2024). As the disability of the elderly changes, caregivers have to constantly adapt and learn new care skills and coping methods. Caregiving work involves many aspects and can bring physical, psychological and economic stress to caregivers. Many caregivers say they are stressed, burdened, and even have depressive moods, especially when there is no one to help and the care is particularly difficult. The quality of care is closely related to the ability of caregivers, their own health conditions, and the social assistance they can obtain (Yu et al., 2025). Many caregivers have not received formal training, which may affect their own lives and also reduce the quality of care. Whether caregivers can persevere depends on their own health conditions, economic conditions, whether they have temporary rest opportunities, and whether the community provides assistance, etc. (Sun and Meng, 2023; Gao and Tang, 2025). 2.3 Current practical difficulties and challenges in home care Although most elderly people want to age at home, there are still many problems in their daily lives. One of the main problems is the poor coordination among families, communities and healthcare workers (Zhang et al., 2022; Zhang and Yang, 2024). Due to the lack of unified service standards and unclear service processes, inadequate services often occur, which results in both caregivers and the elderly not receiving sufficient support (Wang et al., 2023; Song et al., 2025). The pressure of money is also a big problem. Many families cannot afford medical expenses, home renovation costs, or hire professional caregivers (Zeng et al., 2025). Caregivers often have to face emotional and psychological stress, such as physical exhaustion, mental annoyance, and less contact with friends, etc. However, there are particularly few resources that can temporarily help care for the elderly and provide psychological comfort (Yu et al., 2025). In rural areas and areas with low income, formal nursing services are insufficient and social assistance is not perfect (Zeng et al., 2025). Meanwhile, the prejudice against the disabled and nursing work in society has also affected the establishment of a complete support system (Zhang and Yang, 2024). Therefore, relevant policies need to be adjusted, such as providing more nursing
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