论文部分内容阅读
THE afternoon sunlight streamsinto the room, with its neatlymade beds, exquisite teawareset, an up-to-the minute TV,aud old family photos bedecking thewalls of this cozy abode in the Silver AgeApartments for Senior Citizens. This isthe home of 85-year-old Shu Hongjunaud his wife Li Shizhen, three years hisjunior.
Evolving Concepts of Elderly Care
The conple moved to the old folkshome in 20o7, at the "very filial" suggestion of their daughter. Although thecouple’s gown-up children lived in Beijing, they were too far away not to worryabout their parents, living alone with noone on the spot to look out for them.
"I passed out twice at home, which putmy wife in a spin," recalls Shu Hongjun."We are old now and our memories arefailing; if we have to go out buying groceries there’s a good chance of havingan accident." Experiences like this madethem decide on the move to an old folkshome. In July 9007, they rented out theirown place and went to live in the SilverAge Apartments near to where theirdaughter lives.
"The medical seevice here is good andit’s great to live together with other oldpeople," says the old lady, pointing tothe emergency beeper on the bed head."There’s another beeper in the bathroomfor us to summon emergency help, and adoctor or nurse will arrive at the double."
When they themselves were younger,the couple looked after Shu’s father until he passed away. "But there wasn’t asmuch pressure from work and life backthen. Things are very different for youngpeople these days, what with just having one kid, and loads of pressure fromall directions. Living here will makethings less stressful for our children,"Li explains.
Her husband expounds on why thislifestyle suits them: "One, my daughterfeels she’s doing her filial duty; two, weget all-round care; three, it stacks upfinancially."
The couple lives in a large standardroom with two beds, each bed costing2,300 yuan per month. When board,service and heating expenses are takeninto account, it comes to 7,000 yuan permonth, a sum that their pensions can adequately cover.
"Nowadays it is not easy to find goodlive-in help. Even when there are, theturnover is high, unless the two sideshave developed a kind of family-like relationship," says Li. "At my age, it’s far toomuch trouble to think about hunting forreliable domestic help. It’s way easier tolive in this kind of place."
Ma Jill, executive deputy director ofSilver Age Apartments for Senior Citizens,explained something about the demographic: most of his elderly residents havea pension or rental incomes while someare funded by their children workingoverseas; the average age is 84; 70 percentof them have received higher education;one third of them were teachers-highschool teachers for the most part. The Shucouple are university graduates. "Maybewell-educated people are more receptive to the idea of this lifestyle," muses Li.
"Old people in China are extremelyfrugal and unwilling to spend their money on living in an old folks home. It willneed a huge publicity campaign to getpeople to change their attitudes. If thefamily or community can’t provide forthe old people, they can choose a homethat suits them," says Yao Xue, presidentof Beijing’s Le-Amor Home for Seniors.
"Some of the elderly people in our carehave come here completely of their ownchoosing," says Ma Jill. One centenarianresident said something that impressedhim deeply: "Living in an old folks homehas been a liberation - not just for mychildren but for myself!"
Market-oriented
In China’s old folks homes there arethree modes of operation: publicly ownedand run; publicly owned but privatelyrun; and privately owned and run. SilverAge falls into the second category, belonging to Beijing’s Xicheng Civil AffairsBureau but managed by Fuxing Hospital.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, at the end of 2010,China had 19 million citizens above theage of 80, and about 38,000 homes forthe aged. In November 2010, a surveyorganized by the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People’s PoliticalConsultative Conference and sina.comshowed that a startling 24.5 percent of the4,000 respondents wish to live in an oldfolks’ institution, a figure way above the 4percent that the government anticipated.
Ever since Silver Age opened in 2003,demand for beds has always outstrippedavailability, and there were 50 names onthe waiting list last year. Ma Jill attributes this popularity to convenient location, excellent facilities, people-focusedmanagement and first-rate service, including medical attention and reasonableprices.
As a privately owned and run home,Le-Amor is more market-focused. Although it has been in operation for lessthan two years, Le-Amor will break evenby the second half of 2011.
The selection of site and architecturalstyle for Le-Amor’s hoine for the elderlywas driven by market demand. Its American-style dwellings, modern but cozy,rises among the green woods below theFragrant Hills, Beijing’s very, own natural"oxygen bar." More importantly perhaps,all the staff tend to the residents withsmiles and warmth. As Yao describes it:"We treat the old people kindheartedly,as we would like to be treated."
Yao Xue possesses a rare combinationof clinical medical qualifications and experience in real estate, and has focusedon the sheltered housing market since2006. "How to provide for the elderly isa growing area of concern since China isfacing the problem of an aging popnlation, and by 2o3o the situation will havereached crisis proportions," he asserts.
"We have just introduced a card thatwill entitle people to live here for a totalof 12 months split over three years. Sothey can opt for short-term residency staying out of town with their childrenduring certain seasons. And for peoplewith asthma, the dry northern climate isnot ideal, so a spell in the south will begood for their health."
Such considerations have Yao thinking about opening up nlore Le-Amorhomes further south, in Shanghai andSanya for example, so that old peoplecan change their city and their Le-Amorresidence with the season.
No Cushy Number
This year Silver Age Apartments forSenior Citizens is preparing for modifications and redecoration, installing watermeters and increasing the number ofbeds. "It all costs money and we haveto apply to the government for it," saysMa as he points to a long itemized form."We have government investment, butwe have to pay for staff, energy and othercosts, so there’s a lot of pressure. A hospital nurse can earn 80 yuan a day, butthat’s way more than the 1,000 yuan amonth we can pay them, so many youngpeople don’t want to work here and ourstaff turnover is very high."
"Currently the aged-care serviceindnstry lacks professional personaland industrial standards in the areas ofmanagement, service and nursing," saysYao Xue. "Actually the industry doeshave strict professional requirementscovering psychology, medical and nursing care as well as management style.But right now in China personnel training in these areas is underdevelopedmany people don’t even understand whatthis service is."
Liu Jiahong had no concept of whatan old folks home was when she impulsively applied to be taken on at Le-Amorin April 2010. "All knew was it involvedbeing around the elderly. Now I’velearned a lot and really enjoy being withthem." She feels it important to "enrichtheir lives by arranging lots of differentactivities every day, such as art, calligraphy and croquet." As if that were notenough, there are weekly performancesby outside art groups and volunteers arevery much encouraged. “Too much idle time iSll’t a goodthing，”states Li，pointing tO a patch Ofground that is going to be dug over nextyear so that the residents can grow t11eirown vegetables and nowers，
As well as being short of htlman resources，bOtll Silver Age and Le-Anlorhave a big problem witll energV cob-sumption，Ma Jili ex01ains the situa-tion：“Sinee Silver Age has a 10t Of spacedevoted to indoor aetivities，our waterelectricity and gas consumption is par-ticularlv hi曲，And sinee we pav for theseutilities based on the commercial ratherthan residential tariff，the bills can toDone million vuan a year，If the residentialtariff aDDlied to us we could save haIf ofthat，I’ve tried time and again to foroe arethin k，but it hasn’t worked，”
“To save energy we have installed asolar water heatjng system，but other expenses are still charged on the coinmereial tariff，which is a great Sum ofmoney to us，”says Yao Xtie，“We teallywish that the governlilei]t would SLIpDort us in this，It’s no easy job to runa honle for the elderlv-there’s a longwait before one can start recoupingone’s investment，”
In Beijing，the oecupancy rate in urban homes for the elderlv is 100!Dercent，CONpared to just 50 to 60 pereent inSuburban deveIOplllents，“The numberof homes outside the city is going up andup allthe tiille,"coulments Ma Jili,"Blltmany of thelil fall short in terms of service alld faellities，alld after a short spellthere mally residents opt to return to all urban Old f01ks conllllunity."
Evolving Concepts of Elderly Care
The conple moved to the old folkshome in 20o7, at the "very filial" suggestion of their daughter. Although thecouple’s gown-up children lived in Beijing, they were too far away not to worryabout their parents, living alone with noone on the spot to look out for them.
"I passed out twice at home, which putmy wife in a spin," recalls Shu Hongjun."We are old now and our memories arefailing; if we have to go out buying groceries there’s a good chance of havingan accident." Experiences like this madethem decide on the move to an old folkshome. In July 9007, they rented out theirown place and went to live in the SilverAge Apartments near to where theirdaughter lives.
"The medical seevice here is good andit’s great to live together with other oldpeople," says the old lady, pointing tothe emergency beeper on the bed head."There’s another beeper in the bathroomfor us to summon emergency help, and adoctor or nurse will arrive at the double."
When they themselves were younger,the couple looked after Shu’s father until he passed away. "But there wasn’t asmuch pressure from work and life backthen. Things are very different for youngpeople these days, what with just having one kid, and loads of pressure fromall directions. Living here will makethings less stressful for our children,"Li explains.
Her husband expounds on why thislifestyle suits them: "One, my daughterfeels she’s doing her filial duty; two, weget all-round care; three, it stacks upfinancially."
The couple lives in a large standardroom with two beds, each bed costing2,300 yuan per month. When board,service and heating expenses are takeninto account, it comes to 7,000 yuan permonth, a sum that their pensions can adequately cover.
"Nowadays it is not easy to find goodlive-in help. Even when there are, theturnover is high, unless the two sideshave developed a kind of family-like relationship," says Li. "At my age, it’s far toomuch trouble to think about hunting forreliable domestic help. It’s way easier tolive in this kind of place."
Ma Jill, executive deputy director ofSilver Age Apartments for Senior Citizens,explained something about the demographic: most of his elderly residents havea pension or rental incomes while someare funded by their children workingoverseas; the average age is 84; 70 percentof them have received higher education;one third of them were teachers-highschool teachers for the most part. The Shucouple are university graduates. "Maybewell-educated people are more receptive to the idea of this lifestyle," muses Li.
"Old people in China are extremelyfrugal and unwilling to spend their money on living in an old folks home. It willneed a huge publicity campaign to getpeople to change their attitudes. If thefamily or community can’t provide forthe old people, they can choose a homethat suits them," says Yao Xue, presidentof Beijing’s Le-Amor Home for Seniors.
"Some of the elderly people in our carehave come here completely of their ownchoosing," says Ma Jill. One centenarianresident said something that impressedhim deeply: "Living in an old folks homehas been a liberation - not just for mychildren but for myself!"
Market-oriented
In China’s old folks homes there arethree modes of operation: publicly ownedand run; publicly owned but privatelyrun; and privately owned and run. SilverAge falls into the second category, belonging to Beijing’s Xicheng Civil AffairsBureau but managed by Fuxing Hospital.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, at the end of 2010,China had 19 million citizens above theage of 80, and about 38,000 homes forthe aged. In November 2010, a surveyorganized by the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People’s PoliticalConsultative Conference and sina.comshowed that a startling 24.5 percent of the4,000 respondents wish to live in an oldfolks’ institution, a figure way above the 4percent that the government anticipated.
Ever since Silver Age opened in 2003,demand for beds has always outstrippedavailability, and there were 50 names onthe waiting list last year. Ma Jill attributes this popularity to convenient location, excellent facilities, people-focusedmanagement and first-rate service, including medical attention and reasonableprices.
As a privately owned and run home,Le-Amor is more market-focused. Although it has been in operation for lessthan two years, Le-Amor will break evenby the second half of 2011.
The selection of site and architecturalstyle for Le-Amor’s hoine for the elderlywas driven by market demand. Its American-style dwellings, modern but cozy,rises among the green woods below theFragrant Hills, Beijing’s very, own natural"oxygen bar." More importantly perhaps,all the staff tend to the residents withsmiles and warmth. As Yao describes it:"We treat the old people kindheartedly,as we would like to be treated."
Yao Xue possesses a rare combinationof clinical medical qualifications and experience in real estate, and has focusedon the sheltered housing market since2006. "How to provide for the elderly isa growing area of concern since China isfacing the problem of an aging popnlation, and by 2o3o the situation will havereached crisis proportions," he asserts.
"We have just introduced a card thatwill entitle people to live here for a totalof 12 months split over three years. Sothey can opt for short-term residency staying out of town with their childrenduring certain seasons. And for peoplewith asthma, the dry northern climate isnot ideal, so a spell in the south will begood for their health."
Such considerations have Yao thinking about opening up nlore Le-Amorhomes further south, in Shanghai andSanya for example, so that old peoplecan change their city and their Le-Amorresidence with the season.
No Cushy Number
This year Silver Age Apartments forSenior Citizens is preparing for modifications and redecoration, installing watermeters and increasing the number ofbeds. "It all costs money and we haveto apply to the government for it," saysMa as he points to a long itemized form."We have government investment, butwe have to pay for staff, energy and othercosts, so there’s a lot of pressure. A hospital nurse can earn 80 yuan a day, butthat’s way more than the 1,000 yuan amonth we can pay them, so many youngpeople don’t want to work here and ourstaff turnover is very high."
"Currently the aged-care serviceindnstry lacks professional personaland industrial standards in the areas ofmanagement, service and nursing," saysYao Xue. "Actually the industry doeshave strict professional requirementscovering psychology, medical and nursing care as well as management style.But right now in China personnel training in these areas is underdevelopedmany people don’t even understand whatthis service is."
Liu Jiahong had no concept of whatan old folks home was when she impulsively applied to be taken on at Le-Amorin April 2010. "All knew was it involvedbeing around the elderly. Now I’velearned a lot and really enjoy being withthem." She feels it important to "enrichtheir lives by arranging lots of differentactivities every day, such as art, calligraphy and croquet." As if that were notenough, there are weekly performancesby outside art groups and volunteers arevery much encouraged. “Too much idle time iSll’t a goodthing，”states Li，pointing tO a patch Ofground that is going to be dug over nextyear so that the residents can grow t11eirown vegetables and nowers，
As well as being short of htlman resources，bOtll Silver Age and Le-Anlorhave a big problem witll energV cob-sumption，Ma Jili ex01ains the situa-tion：“Sinee Silver Age has a 10t Of spacedevoted to indoor aetivities，our waterelectricity and gas consumption is par-ticularlv hi曲，And sinee we pav for theseutilities based on the commercial ratherthan residential tariff，the bills can toDone million vuan a year，If the residentialtariff aDDlied to us we could save haIf ofthat，I’ve tried time and again to foroe arethin k，but it hasn’t worked，”
“To save energy we have installed asolar water heatjng system，but other expenses are still charged on the coinmereial tariff，which is a great Sum ofmoney to us，”says Yao Xtie，“We teallywish that the governlilei]t would SLIpDort us in this，It’s no easy job to runa honle for the elderlv-there’s a longwait before one can start recoupingone’s investment，”
In Beijing，the oecupancy rate in urban homes for the elderlv is 100!Dercent，CONpared to just 50 to 60 pereent inSuburban deveIOplllents，“The numberof homes outside the city is going up andup allthe tiille,"coulments Ma Jili,"Blltmany of thelil fall short in terms of service alld faellities，alld after a short spellthere mally residents opt to return to all urban Old f01ks conllllunity."