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February 22, 2010

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Home » City specials » Hangzhou

Elder-care hurdles as granny won't leave home

By Xu Wenwen | February 22, 2010, Monday | Print Edition

HANGZHOU is grayer and "older" than many cities - 16.5 percent of the population is over 60. Caring for seniors is a major problem, as many need help but don't want to leave home. Xu Wenwen reports.

Hangzhou is aging as residents live longer, and meeting the needs of senior citizens is an issue for the city.

Around 1.1 million people over 60 years of age represent 16.5 percent of the city population - it's one of China's "grayest" cities. In some old districts senior citizens represent more than 20 percent of the population, according to the Hangzhou Civil Affairs Bureau.

By international standards, a country or city is aging when people over 60 represent more than 10 percent of the population.

Numerous issues arise, notably care for the elderly as many wish to stay at home but have no children nearby to care for them.

The market for housekeeping and assisted living services is growing. Rest homes also are needed.

The Hangzhou municipal government has enacted policies to encourage private investment in construction of retirement homes and to support public senior homes. The city has only five privately run facilities for the elderly.

In Hangzhou's six main districts, public homes for the elderly with more than 50 beds can receive a 6,000-yuan (US$878) annual subsidy for each bed. Facilities with less than 50 beds can receive 3,000 yuan per bed.

Residential buildings that have rented or will rent out space for the elderly for more than five years are eligible for five-year subsidies: 800 yuan annually per bed for homes with more than 50 beds; 500 yuan per bed for homes with less than 50 beds.

Senior citizens prefer to live at home, even in empty nests, and many need housekeeping services but don't like strangers coming into their homes. Others try to squeeze into crowded homes for the elderly in the city center, while rest homes in the suburbs have vacancies that hurt their profitability.

Around 98 percent of the elderly live at home, while 2 percent are in facilities, the civil affairs bureau says.

Providing in-house services such as cleaning and cooking represents a large potential market, but taking care of the elderly is difficult and many people don't want the work.

Old folks commonly complain that housekeepers don't wash clothes properly or clean well, so that residents have to repeat the chores themselves. Some complain that housekeeping staff never listen to them.

"Old people prefer having their relatives care for them," says Chen Jianning, secretary general of the Hangzhou Housekeeping Association, outlining problems faced by his group. "Moreover, workers who go to their homes usually have little medical knowledge, so they may not know how to treat illness or handle emergencies."

In view of this, many housekeeping service companies are unwilling to provide day-long care and prefer to send hourly workers to do simple house cleaning, says Chen.

Dr Xie Jian of Hangzhou's No. 1 People's Hospital says providing proper care is difficult. Xie, who is chief clinical psychologist, says many children don't want to hand over their parents to in-house assisted living companies because they worry about medical issues.

Old people are stubborn, Xie says, noting they don't want to pay someone to do a job, and they think they can do themselves. They also don't like being cared for by people they don't know. Sometimes their judgment is impaired.

"To take proper care of a senior citizen, a caregiver must understand basic medical treatment, have some knowledge of nursing as well as housekeeping," says Xie. "So there's a long way to go to provide good care."

Rest homes

Only 2 percent of the elderly live in special facilities, but beds are in short supply, especially in city center, says Chen Guomin, director of the welfare division of the Hangzhou Civil Affairs Bureau.

He cites an example: to get a bed in the downtown Hangzhou Social Welfare Center, more than 1,400 old people are on the waiting list. At the same time some more distant homes are only one-third occupied and thus are losing money.

"Hangzhou's old people prefer to live in a bustling hive more than in tranquil suburbs with scenery, because they are afraid of solitude," says Chen.

The Hangzhou Audit Bureau says the homes for the elderly have 19,074 beds. That means for every 100 people there are only 1.76 beds.

That's below the provincial average of 2.3 beds per 100. The international standard for developing countries calls for 3 beds per 100.

Lack of private investment in facilities is a major problem.

The audit bureau also says the number of beds of Hangzhou's private homes only accounts for 16 percent of the total number of beds, most of them being in public facilities. This is far lower than Ningbo City's 50 percent and Wenzhou City's 57 percent.

In the survey, among five Hangzhou's private homes of elderly, only one breaks even.

High initial investment is the major stumbling block to private investment, say industry experts. The average cost of one bed in a nursing facility is estimated at 100,000-150,000 yuan.

Hangzhou


 

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