“Integrated Medical and Nursing Care” Service Practice: The Adaptive Roles of Social Workers in Elderly Care Institutions and Implications for Age-Friendly Modifications
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.71204/xspx6a71Keywords:
Age-Friendly Modifications, Integrated Medical and Nursing Care, Social Worker, Adaptive RoleAbstract
This study examines elderly care institutions to investigate how the scope and quality of age-friendly environmental modifications continuously shape the effectiveness of integrated medical and nursing care services, and analyzes the adaptive responses and practices of social workers within this process. Based on qualitative research, the findings reveal that inadequacies in the built environment directly trigger service disruptions and potential risks, forming a “hidden bottleneck” that restricts service quality. Social workers exhibit significant agency by proactively adopting assessment, advocacy, and coordination strategies. Nevertheless, their effectiveness is constrained by structural factors including resource shortages and institutional limitations. This study advocates for a synergistic “Environment–Service–Person” framework and highlights age-friendly environmental modification as a core determinant of service quality. Such a perspective is critical to promoting the operationalization of integrated medical and nursing care and improving overall service quality.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Guoliang Xu, Xingqi Tian (Author)
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