Background

Community-based psychological counselling services (CPCS) is crucial for the oldest-old who often faces challenges or are reluctant to seek care at the healthcare settings. This study aims to examine trends in availability of CPCS over time and rural-urban disparities in service availability among nationwide oldest-old in China.

Methods

Multiple cross-sectional data were derived from the 2005–2018 Chinese Longitudinal Health Longevity Survey. Service availability was reported by each oldest-old participant or their next-of-kins as having CPCS in one's neighborhood. We used Cochran-Armitage tests to estimate service availability trends and applied sample-weighted logistic regression models to examine its rural-urban disparities.

Results

Of 38,032 oldest-old, CPCS availability decreased from 6.7 % in 2005 to 4.8 % in 2008/2009, followed by continual increases to 13.6 % in 2017/2018. In 2017/2018, rural oldest-old's neighborhoods had no greater service availability. Oldest-old residing in the Central (6.7 %), Western (13.4 %) and Northeast China (8.1 %) were less likely to report having services locally than their Eastern counterparts (17.8 %). Oldest-old having any disability or living in the nursing homes reported having greater service availability than those without disability or living at home.

Limitation

Service availability might have been disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Conclusions

Despite the increasing service availability, as of 2017/2018, only 13.6 % oldest-old in China had reported CPCS availability. It raises concerns on the disproportionate access to and continuity of mental health care, especially for those living the Central, Western China and those living at home. Policy efforts are needed to incentivize service expansion and eliminate disparities in the service availability.