What does community-embedded care mean to aging-in-place in China? A relational approach

Transitioning towards community-based alternatives for service provision, health geographers have turned their gaze towards the changing meanings of place across dynamic landscapes for older people. Yet, little is known about how such a transition has manifested as a new phenomenon in a non-western country, within a variegated geo-historical context. Using a relational approach, this paper examines what it means to embed care services in a community for supporting aging-in-place through a new model, community-based care centre (CBCC) in Beijing, China. Interview data were obtained from 47 participants (including administrative staff, service providers, and older people) to understand how stakeholders envision the transition towards the CBCC model. Our findings show that embedding CBCCs into communities is a three-dimensional process: 1) the dynamics of locating services and socio-relational distance in shaping a sense of place; 2) the blurring of formal and informal care relations in creating care spaces; and 3) the interweaving of collectivism and individualism in a transition from "work-unit" to community. These interactions indicate that community-embedded care is geographically, socially, politically, and culturally constructed and needs to be understood as dynamic and relational. Our findings suggest that the theoretical underpinnings of aging-in-place need to broaden to include non-western perspectives.