Empirical study on reform and countermeasures of integrated care for older people based on SWOT-CLPV model: insights from K city pilot project in China

Background Since the year of 2022, China has carried out the second batch of multi-center pilot research of integrated care for older people (ICOPE) in China, but few studies have been reported on the practice of ICOPE. This paper aims to provide more evidence for Chinese practice by analyzing the current situation of ICOPE in K city, China. Methods This study adopts the method of empirical study. The SWOT-CLPV model is used to analyze the internal and external environment of ICOPE practice in K city, as well as its leverage effect, controlling factors, vulnerabilities, and potential problems. Results The interaction between opportunities and strengths resulted in 10 units of leverage effects, the interaction between opportunities and weaknesses resulted in 7 units of control effects, the interaction between threats and strengths resulted in 8 units of vulnerabilities, and the interaction between threats and weaknesses resulted in 11 units of problems. Policy support is a core opportunity factor in the external environment. The main problems faced during the practice of ICOPE include an imperfect management mechanism, the lack of unified ICOPE guidelines and limited service capacity, unstable funding, the inadequate multi-guarantee system and economic pressure on individual payment. Conclusion K city has accumulated some valuable lessons of the ICOPE practice, but there are still some underlying issues and problems which need to be addressed.