Empirical Research on the Life Satisfaction and Influencing Factors of Users of Community-Embedded Elderly Care Facilities

Amid global and China’s accelerating aging, the demand for elderly care services is urgent. The “aging in place” concept encourages community-embedded elderly care facilities (CEECFs), and China has launched a pilot project. But there is limited empirical research on the correlations among users, staff, living space, life satisfaction (LS), and influencing factors. This study focuses on Tianjin’s community-embedded elderly care facility users. Data were collected via questionnaires, interviews, and field measurements. SPSS 26.0 and SEM 24.0 were used to analyze and build models. The research results clarify the current situation of user LS, as well as the characteristics of users, staff, and living spaces in CEECFs. It was confirmed that there are significant correlations between user LS and the characteristics of users, staff, and living spaces. A structural equation model of user LS and its influencing factors was constructed. Social relationship satisfaction and living environment satisfaction are the main determinants of user LS. Based on these results, we propose an optimization strategy to enhance the space design and services of these facilities, aiming to improve the LS of facility users and thus promote the development of healthy aging.