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Hong Kong implements a policy for the aging population involving the core themes of “aging in place as the core,” “institutional care as backup” and “continuum of care.” Encouraging elders to live independently at home is a top priority, and elders who are not able to live at home independently are provided with various residential care services, namely Hostels for the Elderly, Homes for the Aged, Care and Attention (C&A) Homes for the Elderly and Nursing Homes (NHs). The purpose of this paper is to analyze the adoption of the publicly funded model of providing residential care services of elderly in Hong Kong.

The paper analyzes the current conundrum encountered by elders in residential care services and makes recommendations. A comprehensive literature review was conducted covering relevant government reports, academics' journal papers and nongovernmental organizations’ reports concerning residential care service of elderly from 1965 to present.

Subsidized residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs) clearly outperform private RCHEs in terms of space and staff provisions, but the supply of subsidized RCHEs cannot meet the demand. Hence, between 2007 and 2018, the average waiting time was 33 months for NHs and that for C&A homes was 23 months. Several viable measures to meet the demand are purchasing Enhanced Bought Place Schemes (EBPSs) from private RCHEs, subsidizing elders who opt for living in private RCHEs by providing them with Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) and residential care service voucher (RCSV) and subsidizing elderly applicants who opt for living in RCHEs in Guangdong. However, these viable measures are problematic because of the inadequate quality of EBPSs and private RCHEs, which is attributed to the costing arrangement of public and private RCHEs that were established in the colonial period. The brief history of RCHEs also indicates a deviation from the original policy aim, namely aging in place, which was introduced in the Green Paper on Services for the Elderly in 1977.

The supply and quality of community and home care services should be thoroughly examined; effective community and home care services can prevent and even delay unnecessary institutionalization. Another complementary solution is to devise a long-term plan for residential care services. To address disparities in quality standards in different RCHEs, adopting the combination of punitive and compliance models such as conducting frequent inspections and implementing an accreditation system for private RCHEs is imperative.

Although the principle of “aging in place” originated in 1977, the institutionalization rate 6.8% of elders was unexpectedly high in Hong Kong and even surpassed the Asian counterparts. It necessities to rethink how to implement policy concerning long-term care services of elders.

This article describes actual UI prevalence and quality of care at Israeli LTC institutions for the elderly. The analysis is based on current regulatory data on 14,406 residents at 196 residential homes, and 8,278 patients at 159 hospitals for the chronically ill. It includes a calculation of summary indices of quality, the percentage of institutions with deficient items and of those showing change, and a description of functional status profiles. Multiple regression explains the deficiency rate variance through independent institutional variables. There is a higher prevalence of severe functional impairment and full incontinence at hospitals for the chronically ill than at residential homes. There were higher rates of deficiencies and lower rates of corrections for structural items than for process items at both. A major improvement occurred for process items (50‐100 per cent). Regarding outcomes, 34 percent of the residents with UI during the first assessment were continent two years later.

The proportion of the population aged 65 and over is rapidly rising and is expected to reach 24.3 per cent by 2031, up from 12 per cent in 2006. As a result, the Hong Kong government is facing challenges in meeting the growing demand for residential care homes. To provide a clear picture for construction professionals engaged in the future design and operation of such homes, it is first necessary to understand the opinions of end‐users in existing facilities. The paper aims to identify key facilities management (FM) components in three particular areas of residential care homes.

In order to collect data from end‐users, a questionnaire survey of 119 end‐users (both elderly residents and staff) based on post‐occupancy evaluation (POE) was used to evaluate the FM performance of the homes and establish the relationships between the comfort levels of FM components and the satisfaction of elderly residents.

The findings in the questionnaire survey indicated that all 16 key FM components were significantly related to the satisfaction with the home, while space planning, temperature, ventilation, privacy, finishes, and staff were the factors predicting satisfaction with different areas.

The paper makes a number of practical recommendations to government and construction professionals for improving the residential care environment, including a wide corridor with short distance and a low‐speed air‐conditioning machines in the common areas. In the bedroom, designers are recommended to install some partitions in terms of privacy and consider the microclimate carefully. In the bathroom, the use of lifting devices, louver doors, sufficient ventilation and a stable hot water supply are beneficial for the elderly's satisfaction.

Post‐occupancy evaluation is a commonly used tool to evaluate FM performance based on the end‐user's perspective. The study innovatively investigates the impact of different FM components on elders' satisfaction degree by application of POE.

It has proved useful in studies of the personal social services, and in other areas of social policy, to make a distinction between final and intermediate outputs. Final outputs measure changes in individual client well‐being compared with changes in well‐being in the absence of a caring intervention. In other words, final outputs measure the degree of success of a service or a care unit in meeting its client‐level policy objectives, where due consideration is paid to client states had care not been available. In contrast, intermediate outputs are operationally defined in terms of the care services themselves rather than the effects of these services on clients.

Wherever elderly individuals with diabetes reside, whether at home, in a residential home or in a nursing home, they deserve to have good‐quality, structured care provided by carers who have the relevant knowledge and skills. In order to achieve this carers need ongoing education and training. The evidence suggests that diabetes care in residential and nursing homes is varied and standards need to be improved. The literature points to education and training for care home staff as a central tenet to increasing the quality of diabetes care. This article reports the outcome of a collaborative approach to diabetes education and demonstrates that increased awareness in diabetes care is actively sought by staff working in residential and nursing homes. The teaching sessions reported were positively evaluated and demonstrated an increase in the knowledge of the participants. It is envisaged that this will be reflected in improved quality of diabetes care for elderly people. The author discusses the need to ensure that education and training is ongoing and recommends that policy makers, both at a national and local level, embrace the evidence and facilitate this process.

A summary of the definitions of the age at which people are regarded as elderly and relevant demographics is given. Details of the nutritional standards for elderly people in residential care are provided. The National Minimum Standards for Care Homes for Older People published by the Department of Health in 2002 are highlighted. Information on the professional groups involved in catering for those in residential care are detailed. A discussion and recommendations are included.

The purpose of this paper is to study the appropriateness of applying “manufacturing sector” quality management strategies to residential care homes sector and to analyze its influence on the quality of care.

Observation and in‐depth interviews were conducted with 41 Spanish care home top and middle managers, consultants and employees.

The quality management paradigm based on ISO 9001 has certain shortcomings in the elderly residential care home sector. There is a need to fit general quality management models to the sector's specific characteristics and to integrate generic quality management with specialized models.

Research findings should be noted by different agents involved in the process of improving services.

Useful, up‐to‐date conceptual overview for different agents interested in the sector (managers, consultants, academics, etc.) as well as interesting evidence for reflection.

This paper aims to examine the trends among the elderly population in China about residential preferences and policy applications, as the elderly is a rapidly expanding demographic group that has increasing and diversifying inclinations for demanding the residential facilities for the elderly (RFEs) now and in the foreseeable future.

Based on a review of the existing literature and policies, a model is conceptualised for understanding the demands of the elderly. Their needs for functional supportiveness and richness of residential resources in RFEs are then categorised into focal groups.

The Chinese elderly’s demand for specialised residential facilities is under a shift from seeking deficit relief to pursuing personal choices. It is suggested that there will be a continuing demand for affordable RFEs from a number of key focal groups, including: the functionally impaired; marginally housed; socially isolated; and the elderly requiring social relief. In addition, retirement housing in China is likely to be more affordable for the next elderly generation. However, the immature social welfare system and low average income level of the current elderly generation means that the Chinese Government has tough decisions to make about service priorities.

Policy and investment priorities may have to be inclusive of those who demand social relief (free-of-charge) and affordable professional long-term care in RFEs, whereas the rest of the demand could be released by growth in the development of community- and home-based service systems.

This study is one of the first to identify the diversifying demands of age-exclusive living facilities for the elderly that deserve priorities in China. The results can inform and guide future policy and project investment in China.

The purpose of this paper is the introduction of a best practice tool in order to analyze operating costs in the health care sector. This study presents the findings by using a new innovative benchmarking tool to analyze operating costs, identify cost drivers and highlight the potential savings.

The paper focuses on a survey of operating and maintenance costs from 18 residential homes in Tyrol, Austria. In order to determine the volume and to prioritize the cost drivers, CAREB (Computer‐aided Real Estate Benchmarking) software was used, which was developed by the Institute of Real Estate Benchmarking at the University of Applied Sciences KufsteinTirol, Austria. Statistic analysis was conducted to investigate savings potential, determine the best case of the sample and submit recommendations to the decision‐makers.

Compared to conventional benchmarking methods, this model allows a holistic view on the key factors of cost drivers and reveals the savings potential for each dimension. The key figure which reveals the largest potential gives an indication of whether a residential home has general problems with efficiency (high costs per bed), with occupancy (costs per resident) or with the space efficiency (costs per average space consumption). Furthermore, the study reveals the immense savings potential in the costs of various services.

The paper identifies the volume and structure of the cost drivers of operating costs of buildings in the health care sector by using a new innovative benchmarking tool. This survey is based on the operating costs. Other running costs such as costs for health care personnel as well as quality indicators are not considered in this survey.

The results should help to establish cost benchmarking increasingly and develop it as a strategic planning tool in order to support management in the health care sector in the decision‐making process.

The paper presents a new measuring method which allows a holistic view of the influencing cost factors to investigate weak points in cost efficiency for the health care sector.