Practice Dilemma and Mechanism Reconstruction of Rural Mutual Assistance for the Elderly in Gansu Province from the Perspective of Embedding Theory

甘肃省作为农村劳动力输出大省，同时也是未富先老的省份之一，农村老年人口比例较高，独居、留守、空巢等特殊困难老年人的养老需求尤为迫切。基于嵌入性理论，深入探讨甘肃省农村互助养老的发展现状、实践困境及机制重构路径。分析表明，甘肃省农村互助养老在政策支持、设施建设等方面取得一定成效，但仍面临组织嵌入不足、认知偏差、资源匮乏、文化缺失等困境。为此，需从组织、认知、资源、文化四个维度进行机制重构，以推动农村互助养老的可持续发展，为农村养老问题的解决提供参考。Gansu Province, as a major source of rural labor, is also one of the provinces where the elderly population has grown older before becoming wealthy, with a high proportion of elderly people living in rural areas. The needs of special-needs seniors, such as those living alone, left behind, or in empty nests, are particularly urgent. Based on the theory of embeddedness, this paper delves into the current status, practical challenges, and mechanisms for restructuring rural mutual assistance in Gansu Province. Analysis shows that while rural mutual assistance in Gansu has made some progress in policy support and facility construction, it still faces issues such as insufficient organizational embedding, cognitive biases, resource scarcity, and cultural deficiencies. To address these challenges, it is necessary to reconstruct mechanisms from four dimensions: organization, cognition, resources, and culture, to promote the sustainable development of rural mutual assistance in Gansu and provide a reference for solving rural elderly care problems.