Abstract
Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has heavily impacted long-term care facilities (LTCFs) worldwide, resulting in extremely high infection and death rates within these settings. One major factor is the limited institutional capacity of long-term care facilities to respond effectively to such public health emergencies. However, there is limited research on this topic, especially concerning China. Therefore, this study seeks to examine the institutional capacities of long-term care facilities of China to better understand these challenges and identify measures for improving long-term care provision in future public health emergencies.
Objective: To assess the institutional capacity of Chinese long-term care facilities during public health emergencies.
Methods: A cross-sectional study collected data from 104 long-term care facilities across 20 provincial capitals or prefecture-level cities in China through questionnaires. Institutional capacity was measured with the social organization development index encompassing six dimensions: activity, resources, structure, environment, value and influence.
Results: Institutional capacity encompassing six dimensions showed scores of 76%, 63%, 95.9%, 75.4%, 63.1% and 74.1% in Activity, Resources, Structure, Environment, Value and Influence, respectively. These results indicate areas of strength, as well as notable gaps where improvements would be needed.
Conclusion: The social organization development index provides a comprehensive framework for assessing the institutional capacities of long-term care facilities and their roles during a public health crisis. The findings may offer insights into government policymaking related to the industry, particularly in enhancing institutional capacities to improve virus prevention and control during future public health emergencies.