As the country faces an unprecedented aging of its population, the communist regime is taken aback. Retirement homes are not part of Chinese culture and the network is very underdeveloped.
In this large park in downtown Beijing, like every morning, dozens of seniors meet for daily outdoor activities: dancing, singing and sometimes very lively discussions. Here, no one lives in a retirement home and opinions seem to be divided on the subject. “We want to stay home with my wife!exclaims this retiree. A man from our neighborhood who was my age, 80, went to a nursing home and died a month later. The retirement home is not good!”
Above all, these Beijingers do not want to hear about public retirement homes which have a very bad reputation here, with sometimes five to six residents living together in the same room. “All the old people are kept in one place, we don’t care what their meals are, while at home we eat whatever we wantadds the old man. And we can’t afford to go to a high-end nursing home, which costs at least $10,000 to $20,000 a month.”
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“In China, children take good care of usshort cut a woman. The truth is, in a mid-range retirement home, there are a lot of constraints. I would never go there, she decrees. It’s so nice to stay at home! And then my kids give me a hand.”
The French experience to the rescue
In a country that has ten million additional seniors every year, the challenge is immense. China has little experience in caring for the elderly, so some municipalities call on large international groups such as in Shenzhen, in the bay of Hong Kong, where the French group Colisée manages two structures, in particular a small house. pension for the middle class. “There is a real lack of bedsconfirms Olivier Dessajan, general manager of the group in China. We know that today there is already a shortage of two million beds. And so there is a real need to breathe energy, vitality into this aging industry so that private and public investors deliver more beds. It’s no longer an obligation, it’s an emergency.”
Sending your elders to a retirement home is not in Chinese culture. At present, less than 2% of seniors are cared for in this way. But attitudes are changing. Witness this former railway engineer who, at 90, now lives on the second floor of the retirement home. “I live here in a retirement home so that my daughter and my son-in-law can travel without worry and that our lives do not interfere with each other”he explains.
“It’s our traditional culture. Chinese people have enjoyed living together for generations, but with modern life our way of thinking is changing.”
A nonagenarian engineer who lives in a retirement homeat franceinfo
“Here I am quite satisfiedadds the nonagenarian. France started earlier in the field of care for the elderly and has experience. But I also expect nursing homes not only to learn the good sides of France, but also to respect the traditional habits of the Chinese people. For example, the Chinese drink hot water and don’t tumble dry their clothes like the French.”
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The French management of the establishment also explains to us that family visits are much more regular in China, compared to what is practiced in France. “My grandparents moved in together and both live heresays this forty-something who came to see his grandparents. My grandmother is quite open-minded and thinks the service is very good. My grandfather is closer to Chinese traditions and he was against the retirement home. He thinks he should live with his family. It took time and he finally slowly adapted over the past two years.”
Lack of training and prohibitive costs
Beyond the cultural aspect, China’s efforts are also coming up against a lack of trained personnel. In Shenzhen, the medical standards imposed by the municipality are much stricter than in France. In particular, a doctor must remain in the structure permanently, day and night. There is also a lack of ten million professional nursing assistants today, which is hampering the installation of new structures. In the Shenzhen retirement home, for example, caregivers must be trained internally, explains the director of human resources. “Elderly people have to be moved often and caregivers need training to perform these gestures. Our institution must organize trainings on basic care, for example on how to wash hair and take care of the body of the elderly. ‘an elderly person in a professional way. Carers find it a difficult job, more complicated, for example, than the job of a waiter. That is why many are reluctant to accept this job.”
The cost of stays, on average 3,000 euros per month in the private sector, is also a major obstacle. The financial burden is “a bit heavy”, tells us a resident in the corridors, because in China, there is no public aid to finance a stay in a retirement home.