Medical volunteers help elderly residents
Print Edition
On a recent Saturday morning residents from Changning District’s “Tuesday Community” were gathering to receive free blood pressure checks and health advice from retired medical workers.
When nearly 80-year-old retired doctor Qian Wanlian appeared with her “assistant” Wang Min, residents queued in an orderly fashion.
Most of those wanting to see Qian are seniors, some of whom live alone or have trouble traveling to hospitals for health checks.
Qian was her usual energetic self. Aside from blood pressure checks, she also did some heart checks. Wang, a veteran Party member, was also busy as she recorded the medical data for the seniors.
Qian advised her “patients” to either go to a hospital or to take some medicine depending on the results of her checks.
Qian is just one member of a team of retired female medical workers who are well known within the community. First established back in 1998, the voluntary workers give regular health checks in the Tuesday Community, an old residential area mostly inhabited by elderly people. Back in the late 1990s, sourcing medical resources was difficult for many.
A number of reliable medical workers who live in the community offered their services. Every Saturday morning for 17 years, volunteers have arrived despite the weather to help their community.
During that time, more than 50,000 residents have benefitted from the team’s generosity and dedication. The volunteers have won numerous awards from both the district and municipal governments.
The volunteers have also put in extra hours during times of emergency, such as during the SARS and bird flu outbreaks. They gave lectures and spread useful scientific knowledge to the residents about precautions they could take to protect themselves.
Whenever the season changes they also turn up to give guidance on how to stay healthy.
Xu Yueqiu, now over 70 years old, was one of the first volunteers. She joined the team soon after retiring and has a well-established background in herbal medicine science.
Other than checking people’s blood pressure, she has been using her expertise to prescribe traditional Chinese herbs for patients. She even personally delivered medicine to the homes of some people who have trouble getting around.
Xu moved out of the community three years ago and now lives in Shanghai’s suburban Songjiang District, but she still served as a volunteer until this year. She now joins the other volunteers only when they hold a big event.
Members of the team change over time, but their service remains constant. The volunteers bring a variety of different expertise to the table. Thus, the team has grown stronger and now covers more areas of medicine compared to when it was first established.
The volunteers even make house calls in some cases. Over the 17 years the team has made 200 house calls to people too old or sick to leave their home.
Resident Shen Aizhen said the volunteers are friendly and treat them better than doctors and nurses in hospitals.
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