Abstract Background The implementation of humanistic care services in nursing homes is of great importance for improving the quality of life of older people, enhancing their sense of self-worth, and meeting their spiritual and psychological needs. However, there is currently a lack of standardized criteria and validated tools for the systematic assessment of the quality of humanistic care in nursing homes. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop a comprehensive indicator system for evaluating the quality of humanistic care in nursing homes. Methods Guided by the Quality Caring Model and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory as the theoretical framework, an initial evaluation indicator system was developed through a literature review and semi-structured interviews. Based on the preliminary indicator system, an expert consultation questionnaire was designed, and two rounds of Delphi expert consultation were conducted with 32 experts from relevant fields to further refine and optimize the evaluation indicator system by integrating expert opinions. Subsequently, the Analytic Hierarchy Process was applied to determine the weight of each indicator, and consistency testing was performed. Results The effective recovery rates of the two rounds of expert consultation questionnaires were 94.12% and 100.00%, respectively, and the expert authority coefficients were 0.850 and 0.859. The Kendall’s coefficients of concordance for the two rounds of expert consultation were 0.167 and 0.269, respectively ( P < 0.001). Ultimately, a quality evaluation indicator system for humanistic care in nursing homes was established, comprising 3 primary-level indicators, 10 secondary-level indicators, and 38 tertiary-level indicators. Conclusion The quality evaluation indicator system for humanistic care in nursing homes developed in this study demonstrates a certain degree of scientific rigor and rationality. It can provide a theoretical reference for promoting the standardization of humanistic care processes and the systematization of quality management in nursing homes in China, and offers a systematic framework for the subsequent evaluation and improvement of the quality of humanistic care.
Wu et al. (2026) studied this question.