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Objective To investigate the associations between lifestyle factors and social network and cognitive impairment among the elderly in three communities in China.Methods From November 2017 to May 2018,1 200 elderly individuals were selected from three Chinese communities (Beijing,Hefei,and Lanzhou) using a random cluster sampling method.Data were collected on lifestyle,social network,and cognition.A conditional logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify the associations between lifestyle and social network and cognitive impairment.Results A total 1 115 participants (92.9％) were administered both social network and cognition questionnaires.After adjustment by age,sex,education,marital status,health,and living status,only low participation in physical activity was found to be associated with cognitive impairment (OR=0.65,95％ CI=0.45-0.93,P=0.019).A larger social network (OR=0.50,95％ CI=0.29-0.85,P=0.010),especially more friends (0R=0.44,95％ CI=0.29-0.65,P＜0.001),may decrease the risk of cognitive impairment.The interactions between lifestyle factors and social network were not associated with cognitive impairment.Conclusion Our findings suggest that larger social networks and physical activity are associated with cognitive function among the elderly.Identification and intervention of risk factors are crucial in the delay and prevention of cognitive impairment and the improvement of quality of life among the elderly.
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The characteristics of health care require that health care professional organizations play an impor-tant role in health governance. The role of health care professional organizations in China has not been clearly defined and their functions have not been fully developed. This paper explores the nature, and the functions of health care professional associations in China. Based on the analysis of health governance characteristics in China, the role, and functions of the health care professional organizations in China’s health governance were defined and relevant policy recommendations are were proposed.
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This article is based on a questionnaire survey of healthcare professional organizations and interview leaders of them. The results of this investigation show that the number of staff is small, and lack of highly qualified human resources. The organizations rely on donation for income and some of them run at a deficit. The functions such as professional self-discipline are not well performed. The analysis reveals four reasons why functions are not well per-formed:the bureaucratic style of the professional organizations and unclear legal status;the limited authorization from legal and administrative bodies;the defects in the governance system and the lack of capacity. Four aspects of policy recommendations are were proposed: to clearly define the role of the professional organizations and authorization through legal and administrative procedures; to strengthen support of professional organizations through various poli-cies;to improve governance and build comprehensive regulation mechanisms;to enhance the capacity of these organi-zations and so on.
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The aim of the present paper intends to explore the international experiences of healthcare profes-sional organizations and its enlightenment for China. The functions of health professional organizations in advanced countries include certification and accreditation, self-discipline, academic exchanges, political participation, service for industry, member rights protection and so on. The legal authorization, comprehensive supervision and competitive market mechanisms which make sure these functions perform well are worth learning for China.