The elderly deserve better care and happier life
Updated: 2015-12-10 08:13
By DU PENG(China Daily)
|
||||||||
But an information management system will be needed to monitor the situation and allocate the resources, and the information database from the grassroots should include the living conditions, marital status and physical disabilities of senior citizens, so that those needing special care can be identified.
More importantly, once the pension framework is built under the government supervision, the authorities have to ensure that civil society fulfills its social responsibilities. To meet the needs of "empty nest" residents, community care services have to be further classified and better implemented.
Senior citizens living in rural areas need special care, because rural eldercare facilities are ill equipped; for instance, they offer no recreational activities making inmates life dull and monotonous. The authorities, therefore, have to make greater efforts to provide proper care to the elderly in rural areas.
Indeed, residents of some villages have made efforts to provide better care for senior citizens by organizing self-help lodging homes within communities, so that the elderly do not feel lonely. But senior citizens who cannot take care of themselves won't be able to come to the lodging homes, and the absence of a proper support system for such people makes the lodging facilities only a transitional attempt.
Surveys show that senior citizens feel happier and more lively when they are with young people. In some rural areas of China, experiments have shown that senior citizens whose children are not always around feel rejuvenated if they get to meet them or other younger people more often. Celebrating the big festivals with young community volunteers is also a means of communication and interaction that can go a long way in easing anxiety and the feeling of loneliness among the elderly.
And the onus to make senior citizens' life happier and more meaningful lies with the entire society.
Du Peng is a professor of gerontology at Renmin University of China. The article is an excerpt from his interview with China Daily's Zhang Yucheng.
- Global health entering new era: WHO chief
- Brazil's planning minister steps aside after recordings revelation
- Vietnam, US adopt joint statement on advancing comprehensive partnership
- European border closures 'inhumane': UN refugee agency
- Japan's foreign minister calls A-bombings extremely regrettable
- Fukushima impact unprecedented for oceans: US expert
- Stars of Lijiang River: Elderly brothers with white beards
- Wealthy Chinese children paying money to learn British manners
- Military-style wedding: Fighter jets, grooms in dashing uniforms
- Striking photos around the world: May 16 - May 22
- Robots help elderly in nursing home in east China
- Hanging in the air: Chongqing holds rescue drill
- 2.1-ton tofu finishes in two hours in central China
- Six things you may not know about Grain Buds
Most Viewed
Editor's Picks
Anti-graft campaign targets poverty relief |
Cherry blossom signal arrival of spring |
In pictures: Destroying fake and shoddy products |
China's southernmost city to plant 500,000 trees |
Cavers make rare finds in Guangxi expedition |
Cutting hair for Longtaitou Festival |
Today's Top News
Liang avoids jail in shooting death
China's finance minister addresses ratings downgrade
Duke alumni visit Chinese Embassy
Marriott unlikely to top Anbang offer for Starwood: Observers
Chinese biopharma debuts on Nasdaq
What ends Jeb Bush's White House hopes
Investigation for Nicolas's campaign
Will US-ASEAN meeting be good for region?
US Weekly
Geared to go |
The place to be |