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SZ charts new course for aged
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Peng Zhaoxia
WANG ZHIQI, a 68-year-old man whose son works in Shenzhen, said that he retired from a research institute and moved into the Shenzhen Retirement Home, one of the city's largest government-sponsored retirement homes, last November.
"Originally I came here for health reasons. Though I'm getting stronger and can do everything myself now, I still find living here is not bad. Daily life is well-scheduled here: I can watch TV, read the newspaper, play mah-jong with others, get some exercise, take walks and even go out shopping. I'm quite pleased with the life here," he said.
Shenzhen is renowned for being a young city, so much so that the average age of its residents is only 28. However, according to statistics from the Shenzhen Municipal Administration of Civil Affairs, the number of senior citizens over 60 has soared to approximately 170,000 people, half of whom are permanent residents, while the other half are only staying in the city temporarily.
It has been more than 20 years since China introduced the "one child" family planning policy. These days, the first generation of only children produced by the policy are starting to get married, but they are going to find themselves caught in a bind. Traditionally, children look after their parents when they retire, and often their parents-in-law as well. But while this burden was once shared by several children, now it will become common for one child to have to support four retired people -- blood parents and parents-in-law -- themselves. Shenzhen's young residents are expected to face this problem in a big way once the bulk of their parents retire around the year 2010.
The development of retirement homes or nursing homes for the aged has thus made people sit up and take notice. These homes will no longer house only the city's so-called "three-nons" (no offspring, no ability to work, no one to look after them) live to wait out the remaining days of their lives; rather, they must be updated to offer a series of quality services for the elderly who expect more fruitful and colourful lives in their golden years.
Shenzhen, despite its fast development and fierce competition, is also a city where people, especially the young, are facing diversified pressures in their lives. Thus, it is very likely that they can't afford the time and energy to take care of their aged family members. The consequences of their unintentional negligence of their old parents is not difficult to imagine: more and more aged people will turn, though reluctantly, to nursing homes.
By the end of 2000, there were 51 social welfare organizations in Shenzhen taking care of the city's elderly, seven of which were affiliated to the municipal government. The others were funded by governments at different levels or the so-called social powers, namely enterprises or private investors. These homes can only accommodate about 3,000 aged people.
New thoughts to clash with tradition
The Shenzhen Retirement Home, operated by the Shenzhen Social Welfare Centre, was founded in April, 1999 with a total investment of 1.6 million yuan (US$193,900). The home comprises a six-floor building with a total floor space of 5,745 square metres. It has 200 beds, 30 of which are for old people who can still take care of themselves, 90 are for those who need part-time assistance, and the rest for people who need full-time attention. The home provides a dining hall and an infirmary on each floor. Also available are a music room, a library, a chess room, TV rooms and a gym.
Currently, 52 staff members are employed in the nursery home, including 38 temporary workers. The number of aged people living in this home amounts to 81, their ages ranging from 60 to nearly 100.
Ms Luo, who works at the home, told Shenzhen Daily: "We expect more healthy aged people coming in and we will organize more activities for them to entertain both themselves and others."
"Old minds should be renewed. These senior citizens here are not lonely any more. They are enjoying their lives with companions," she added.
A 79-year-old lady named Xu Yiyun, who has three sons and one daughter, came here last August. Although she lived with one of her sons after her husband died in 1996, she still felt lonely since her son and daughter-in-law worked during the daytime.
"I didn't know how to use their kitchenware because they are too modern. I had to wait for them to cook meals," she said.
Worried she was a burden to her son, she decided to live in the Shenzhen Retirement House. "You see, I'm happy here. The food here fits my appetite quite well, I love it," she smiled.
Sun Huilun, a 76-year-old lady and once a doctor in Shanghai before retirement, said in English: "I happened to know of this home when I was travelling in Shenzhen three months ago." Seeing it was clean and the head of this aged home is a warm-hearted and elegant lady, she decided to live here. "I have a daughter, but I want to live my own life in my own way," she said
Social support
"People come to visit us almost every day," a Ms Luo told Shenzhen Daily. “Sometimes they bring performances and gifts, rendering us great comfort and pleasure. There are also people who donate money to improve the facilities here. These donations and visits really give us material and spiritual comfort.”
At present, governments of different levels still play an essential role in financing these retirement houses, contributing some 50 per cent of the total investment in infrastructure. Secondly, money from the social welfare lottery has proved a powerful support. Finally, social donation helps a lot in improving the environment and facilities of these organizations.
According to statistics from Shenzhen Municipal Administration of Civil Affairs, the donations from enterprises and individuals in past five years have amounted to 19.8 million yuan.
Improved services
Gao Sunin, the head of the home, said: "We need to build up the reputation of our facility by advertising and strengthening management."
Things have changed from the days when nursing was mainly provided by middle-aged workers. More and more young people have joined the nursing team nowadays. Worth special mention is the fact that most of them are graduates from sanitation schools or nursing schools, and are fully qualified nurses.
In the home, the health situation of the residents varies wildly: some are paralyzed, in which case everything needs to be done with the assistance of the nursing staff. Some may be suffering from heart attacks, diabetes, bronchitis, or asthma. It really takes young people with a lot of patience and spirit of giving to do this job well. "Everyone gets old, and society always needs someone to do this job. I love my job and enjoy myself with them," said a satisfied Huang Weiping, a young woman on the nursing staff.
Low rates
Shenzhen's retirement homes offer flexible and diversified forms of payment, such as monthly payment, quarterly payment, yearly payment and lump-sum payment, based on the charging standard stipulated by the governmental section concerned.
Despite the existence of some small retirement homes operated by other towns or counties, larger-scale nursing homes in Shenzhen accept all eligible old people, including residents from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. Payment therefore varies according to where they are from. Normally, for the self-care section, people with Shenzhen residency permits pay about 1,000 yuan per month. Those who are not Shenzhen residents need to pay about 1,200 yuan per month. Eligible old people from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan need to pay about 1,800 yuan, who, in fact, consider the rates very reasonable.
Different choices;
The present capacity of the registered homes for the aged in Shenzhen is able to meet the demands in this market, according to Lin Chunmei, deputy director general of Shenzhen Municipal Administration of Civil Affairs.
Analyzing the reasons why there are still vacant beds in these homes in Shenzhen, she theorized that at present Shenzhen is still a young city whose population of senior citizens is still small compared with cities like Guangzhou.
Lin also believes that Shenzhen's comfortable housing is another reason. Many housing estates are well-managed and provide enough facilities for the convenience of their residents. Some senior citizens, who have their own apartments, can afford to hire nannies to help out. This allows them to live in their own homes, removing the need for a retirement home.
Furthermore, while new ideas are taking hold, many traditional views are still deeply rooted, including the belief that children must take care of their old to show their filial piety.
Lin said that with the immense improvement of people's living standards, many senior citizens in the city are still very healthy and energetic. Some of them even continue to work, expecting to contribute more to society. Others want take it easy and enjoy their new freedom and independence by travelling or learning new and interesting things before moving to retirement homes.
Foreign operations limited
There are no foreign-invested retirement homes in Shenzhen at present, Ms Lin said.
The population of seniors in Hong Kong totals 960,000 and the HK government is negotiating with the Shenzhen Municipal Government concerning the operation of nursery homes in Shenzhen for those who are willing to spend their golden years in Shenzhen. However, Lin says, "mindful of the future aging population burden of Shenzhen, the Shenzhen Government didn't accept."
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