‘Eldergartens’ spring up for seniors in cities
Print Edition
Nursing homes bearing more resemblance to kindergartens than elderly care facilities have been sprouting up in China’s urban communities.
It’s a new approach to relieving worries over taking care of a rising aging population.
When they leave for work in the morning, young, and sometimes not so young, people take their parents to the “eldergarten,” a health care center inside their residential community, and pick them up after work.
“It’s a great relief for the younger generation, especially those from a two-income household like us, to have help taking care of our parents,” said Li Yunqin, manager of Yihe’s Home, a health care center in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province.
Recreational facilities and medical care are available.
“It’s like a second home here, but with better medical facilities and more friends,” Li said.
“Their children are free from worries about safety and wellbeing when they are not around, and no one has to be away from their family for too long,” she said.
The shortage of qualified nursing care for the silver generation has become increasingly obvious as China rolls into an “aging society,” 10 percent or more of people at or above the age of 60.
A National Bureau of Statistics census showed an elderly population of 194 million in 2012, 14.3 percent of the entire populous.
The figure is expected to reach 437 million, or 30 percent, by 2050. There were only 3.9 million geriatric beds available in 2012, helping just a tiny fraction of the elderly, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
It has become difficult for youngsters, nowadays mostly single children, to fulfil their filial responsibilities to their aging parents, or even grandparents.
Government funded nursing homes are either non-profit or operating at a low price. They must also give priority to the disabled, those with low, or no incomes, or no family. They are not a solution for most families. Most nursing homes are in the suburbs and inconvenient for visiting.
Beijing has taken the lead in building communities for seniors.
Golden Heights, a senior citizen’s health care center under Landgent Group Co Ltd provides a family-style retirement life, including medical care, for people living in a nearby complex.
The center is “home” to more than 60 people with an average age of 82.
The center has general practitioners, pharmacists and nutritionists.
Beijing Municipal First Aid Center has set up a first-aid station inside Golden Heights.
“Unlike China’s traditional belief of making seniors rest, we encourage them to do things,” said Ni Haohua, CEO of Landgent Group.
The center helps people hold painting and photography exhibitions and even encourages them to make short films.
“Our dreams never die here,” said a woman surnamed Lu, 76, one of Golden Heights’ first residents.
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