Objective To explore the Status quo of integration of medical care and pension in Zhuhai and put forward relevant countermeasures

in order to provide guidance for the improvement of the elderly care service model in Zhuhai. Methods A total of 120 elderly people from three elderly care centers in Zhuhai city and one main administrator from each center were selected by convenience sampling for a questionnaire survey. The obtained data were analyzed descriptively and χ~2 test was performed. For the qualitative study

six elderly people and three main administrators from three elderly care centers were selected by purposive sampling method for semi-structured in-depth interviews. The Colaizzi seven-step analysis method and class analysis method were adopted to analyze the interview data. Results The difficulties faced by the three elderly care centers were a lack of human resources and financial difficulties. The age of the elderly in the three elderly care centers was mainly above 70 years

of which 42% were 80-89 years old

29% were 90-99 years old

and 21% were 70-79 years old. There were few elderly people under 70 years old

accounting for 6%

of whom the elderly under 60 years old were the least

accounting for 1%. Fifty-four percent of the elderly admitted to elderly care centers were female and 46% were male

with a male to female ratio of nearly 1∶1. A total of 15.0%（18/120） of the elderly were in good conditions and had no afflicting disease

30.8%（37/120） had chronic diseases

and 54.2%（65/120） were bedridden for a long time. Interviews with the elderly showed that they had low awareness and health problems. Interview results with key administrators of the center indicated a lack of professional talent and funding difficulties. Conclusion The targeted countermeasures are proposed based on the current theoretical model of integration of medical care and pension in Zhuhai in combination with the relevant literature. The relevant departments should diversify financing and personalized service to cope with the dilemma of financial difficulties

strengthen multi-dimensional training and attract professional talents to solve the problems of lacking talents and imperfect talent benefits and professional title promotion system. They should also intensify the publicity of the integration of medical care and pension and pay attention to the mental health of the elderly to improve the public’s awareness of the pension mode. The social identity of nursing staff ’occupations should be improved in many aspects to increase their social support.