The Operational Status and Optimization Paths of the Sojourn Elderly Care Model in plateau Areas from the Perspective of Cultural Embeddedness

Abstract

With the deepening population aging and the booming sojourn elderly care industry, plateau areas, boasting unique cultural and ecological resources, have become key carriers for model innovation. Guided by cultural embeddedness theory, this study focuses on Maoxian County’s sojourn elderly care model, examining cultural embedding across government institutions, natural health preservation, characteristic medicine, and cultural immersion. It identifies practical dilemmas: cultural identity conflicts, mismatched service supply, limited participants, and talent shortages. Corresponding optimization paths are proposed: optimizing government governance, enhancing natural health preservation, promoting characteristic medicine inheritance, and breaking cultural immersion barriers. The research reveals that cultural embedding in Maoxian’s model essentially reflects the symbiosis of ethnic culture and the elderly care industry. Successful practice requires adhering to "local adaptation, multi-stakeholder collaboration, innovation-driven empowerment, and inheritance activation," providing the elderly with "health preservation + culture" dual-value experience while offering practical and theoretical references for cultural resource activation, rural revitalization, and elderly care development in plateau areas.