Pioneering program aims to give elderly a new lease of life
By Wing Tan |
August 15, 2009, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
SHANGHAI is an aging city. The latest statistics reveal that the group of people over 60 accounts for 22 percent of the population (the standard line to define an aging city is 17 percent).
A center in Pudong New Area has initiated a new system to care for elderly people living alone that will provide them with company, safety in numbers, a better home-care service and some extra income.
The Companion People Care Service House opened in May in Pudong's Weifang community and is aimed at matching two to three elderly people, who are living alone in the same complex, to resettle together in one of their apartments, while leasing out the other residences.
"This service is for older people living alone, whether they have children or not," says the program's initiator, Yang Lei, a 23-year-old woman who was inspired by her part-time job as a carer during her studies in the United Kingdom.
Shanghai has more than 3 million registered residents aged 60 and above, nearly 22 percent of the city's population. By 2020, the proportion is expected to rise to about 34 percent.
"The center will complement the current types of care provided for the elderly and it has a strong feasibility to be practiced in a big city like Shanghai," Yang says.
Homes for the elderly in the downtown area are always full and it often takes more than a year for beds to become available.
The waiting list to get into such homes is very long.
Senior rest homes in suburban districts are big enough but so far from the city center that it is often inconvenient for family members to visit.
First-hand experience
Yang worked for service provider Care UK for three years when she was at university and found that apartment-sharing was quite popular with the elderly there.
She learned how to communicate with old people and her work gave her first-hand experience of taking care of them.
Yang came back to Shanghai in 2007 and, after a one-year market study, opened the care center this year.
"It saves lots of social resources to get old people together," she says.
Take a flat with three bedrooms and two living rooms for example, she says, it could be rented to two people whose flats can thus be rented to others. Rent from the leased houses will be shared by the elderly people and can be partly used to pay for the care workers.
"Surely it can improve old people's income, but what they want most is not only money but also companions and a happy life," Yang says.
More than 10 senior citizens in the city have applied for the service so far but most of them are living in a different complex.
The center is working hard to attract more applicants and to gather as much information as they can to better match them.
"We will match seniors of similar health conditions, hobbies and living habits," Yang says. "It will make it easier for our professional care workers to better take care of them."
Yang's care service currently has four workers, all in their 40s or 50s, providing professional home services for the elderly, such as meals, laundry and personal care as well as assistance with washing, dressing, eating and mobility.
"They're not the ayi or nannies we can see today in many families.
"They need to be able to provide professional services to the elderly and handle all kinds of emergencies with first-aid knowledge, such as stroke or heart attack," she says.
A qualified care worker is supposed to know everything from how to make beds, to how to take care of the elderly's personal hygiene.
"The service is aimed at moving the medical service in hospital to the community and old people's homes."
Home-care workers provide assistance with day-to-day activities including helping with personal care, household tasks or just by providing companionship.
They can also assist people who have more specialized requirements such as round-the-clock care.
Or they can be there just when the old people need them, like providing help when they come out of hospital, and visiting when they need reassurance or have a health concern.
Yang's partner Tao Zhiqiang, the trainer for the care workers, is optimistic about this new caring service.
He had been working as a doctor in the emergency room of a hospital in Brazil for four years. Last year he met Yang on the Internet and decided to work together with her on the project.
Physical exercises
"Parents under the 'one-child' policy are getting older. Most of their only children are busy in their career and have no more energy or time or siblings to take care of their aging daddy and mummy," Tao says.
"We're a sort of pioneer in this old people caring field as in China we're the first one to do such a thing."
Yang's care house is also home to the community's elderly people.
Every work day, from 9:30am to 4pm, the door is open for anyone who wants to chat, play cards, do physical exercise under Tao's guidance and have lessons in nutrition. Tao and Yang even offer English classes.
Yang is now working with several community day-care centers to provide service and promote her new style of care.
Yang says her ultimate goal was not only to provide professional service to the aged but also an integrated social life for them by matching them and getting them involved in society again.
"It is a group that is always ignored. Many young or middle-aged people might think like, ah, they are old and waiting for death.
"No, what they need is a little more care, respect and a happy, non-lonely life," she says.
A center in Pudong New Area has initiated a new system to care for elderly people living alone that will provide them with company, safety in numbers, a better home-care service and some extra income.
The Companion People Care Service House opened in May in Pudong's Weifang community and is aimed at matching two to three elderly people, who are living alone in the same complex, to resettle together in one of their apartments, while leasing out the other residences.
"This service is for older people living alone, whether they have children or not," says the program's initiator, Yang Lei, a 23-year-old woman who was inspired by her part-time job as a carer during her studies in the United Kingdom.
Shanghai has more than 3 million registered residents aged 60 and above, nearly 22 percent of the city's population. By 2020, the proportion is expected to rise to about 34 percent.
"The center will complement the current types of care provided for the elderly and it has a strong feasibility to be practiced in a big city like Shanghai," Yang says.
Homes for the elderly in the downtown area are always full and it often takes more than a year for beds to become available.
The waiting list to get into such homes is very long.
Senior rest homes in suburban districts are big enough but so far from the city center that it is often inconvenient for family members to visit.
First-hand experience
Yang worked for service provider Care UK for three years when she was at university and found that apartment-sharing was quite popular with the elderly there.
She learned how to communicate with old people and her work gave her first-hand experience of taking care of them.
Yang came back to Shanghai in 2007 and, after a one-year market study, opened the care center this year.
"It saves lots of social resources to get old people together," she says.
Take a flat with three bedrooms and two living rooms for example, she says, it could be rented to two people whose flats can thus be rented to others. Rent from the leased houses will be shared by the elderly people and can be partly used to pay for the care workers.
"Surely it can improve old people's income, but what they want most is not only money but also companions and a happy life," Yang says.
More than 10 senior citizens in the city have applied for the service so far but most of them are living in a different complex.
The center is working hard to attract more applicants and to gather as much information as they can to better match them.
"We will match seniors of similar health conditions, hobbies and living habits," Yang says. "It will make it easier for our professional care workers to better take care of them."
Yang's care service currently has four workers, all in their 40s or 50s, providing professional home services for the elderly, such as meals, laundry and personal care as well as assistance with washing, dressing, eating and mobility.
"They're not the ayi or nannies we can see today in many families.
"They need to be able to provide professional services to the elderly and handle all kinds of emergencies with first-aid knowledge, such as stroke or heart attack," she says.
A qualified care worker is supposed to know everything from how to make beds, to how to take care of the elderly's personal hygiene.
"The service is aimed at moving the medical service in hospital to the community and old people's homes."
Home-care workers provide assistance with day-to-day activities including helping with personal care, household tasks or just by providing companionship.
They can also assist people who have more specialized requirements such as round-the-clock care.
Or they can be there just when the old people need them, like providing help when they come out of hospital, and visiting when they need reassurance or have a health concern.
Yang's partner Tao Zhiqiang, the trainer for the care workers, is optimistic about this new caring service.
He had been working as a doctor in the emergency room of a hospital in Brazil for four years. Last year he met Yang on the Internet and decided to work together with her on the project.
Physical exercises
"Parents under the 'one-child' policy are getting older. Most of their only children are busy in their career and have no more energy or time or siblings to take care of their aging daddy and mummy," Tao says.
"We're a sort of pioneer in this old people caring field as in China we're the first one to do such a thing."
Yang's care house is also home to the community's elderly people.
Every work day, from 9:30am to 4pm, the door is open for anyone who wants to chat, play cards, do physical exercise under Tao's guidance and have lessons in nutrition. Tao and Yang even offer English classes.
Yang is now working with several community day-care centers to provide service and promote her new style of care.
Yang says her ultimate goal was not only to provide professional service to the aged but also an integrated social life for them by matching them and getting them involved in society again.
"It is a group that is always ignored. Many young or middle-aged people might think like, ah, they are old and waiting for death.
"No, what they need is a little more care, respect and a happy, non-lonely life," she says.
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