Comparison of domestic and international elderly care needs assessment system and the implication

The construction of elderly care needs assessment system is conducive to realize the reasonable matching between care services and needs of the elderly， and to promote the effective allocation of pension resources. It is the basis and premise of the development of long-term care insurance system. Questions such as "Who is responsible for the assessment？ Who can apply for the assessment？ What is the assess tool？ How to pay the assessment fee？" are the core issues that need to be addressed in the construction of the evaluation system. This study compared the current situation of the elderly care needs assessment systems in China， the Netherlands， Germany， Japan and the United States from four aspects： assessment subject， assessment object， assessment cost source， and assessment tools’ dimensions. It has been a trend to entrust a third party for the evaluation work in pilot cities in China. Compared with foreign countries， domestic appraisers’ discipline and professional background are simpler. In foreign countries， the evaluation objects of elderly care needs are more extensive； the legal and financial support system of needs evaluation is more mature； and the evaluation dimensions are more objective and comprehensive. Based on this study， we suggest China to establish a national unified elderly care needs assessment system， cultivate professional assessment teams， expand the coverage of care needs assessment objects， improve the standards of assessment objects and assessment dimensions， and improve the law and financial support regulations related to needs assessment.