Exploring the development of "intergenerational integration" elderly care model in Beijing and other places
2024-10-10
Young people moving into nursing homes and exchanging their volunteer service hours for rent reductions are expected to become a new model of elderly care services. Recently, the Beijing Elderly Care Industry Association announced plans to carry out pilot work in some elderly care institutions in Beijing, recruiting young volunteers for "intergenerational integration" elderly care services from the society. How does the "intergenerational integration" elderly care service model operate specifically? What are the benefits of the "intergenerational integration" model for the elderly, volunteers, and elderly care institution operators? The reporter conducted an interview. Service for accommodation, matching two types of needs: young volunteers move into nursing homes, join interest groups for the elderly, organize cultural and sports activities within the nursing home, accompany the elderly to chat and read newspapers, and provide psychological comfort for the elderly... Elderly people like to coexist with energetic young volunteers, and young people also need affordable housing. The collision of two demands has given rise to a new elderly care model of "service for accommodation". The Beijing Elderly Care Industry Association recently announced the recruitment of young volunteers for the "intergenerational integration" pilot program in elderly care institutions. Volunteers need to live in pilot elderly care institutions and engage in volunteer services such as cultural and sports activities, paired services, resource support, health promotion, and professional support. Specifically, volunteers are required to provide no less than 20 hours of volunteer service per month. As a reward, volunteers can enjoy the accommodation provided by the pilot elderly care institution and pay a low accommodation fee of 300 to 500 yuan per person per month to the institution. Elderly care institutions also set a "threshold" for young people who intend to move in. According to the relevant recruitment announcement, the project requires applicants to be between the ages of 22 and 40, have no self owned housing in this city, have a college degree or above, be passionate about public welfare, and love working for the elderly. The applicant must work for an employer in this city and sign a labor contract, and have personally contributed to the city's social insurance for at least one year. Applicants with professional backgrounds in social work, medicine, psychology, etc. will be given priority in recruitment under equal conditions. It is understood that after the applicant submits the application, the pilot elderly care institution will select the applicant and organize physical examinations and psychological tests for young volunteers based on the actual situation. After reaching an agreement, volunteers need to sign an agreement with the pilot elderly care institution and move in. During the agreement period, pilot elderly care institutions will generally arrange for volunteers to live in single rooms. If they do not have the conditions for individual living, the number of people living in a single room shall not exceed 2. At present, some young people have expressed interest in the relevant volunteer positions and called pilot elderly care institutions to inquire about job related information. A half day activity lasts for 4 hours, and a monthly service time of 20 hours is about 5 and a half days, which is equivalent to using a relatively relaxed part-time job and can offset considerable rental expenses Liu Pinggang, who holds a master's degree in social work, has recently graduated from a university in Beijing and is currently looking for rental housing. She stated that she will solve her housing problem by applying for a volunteer position in "intergenerational integration". The elderly care industry is a sunrise industry. In areas with a high degree of population aging, there is greater potential for the development of the 'silver economy'. Considering my professional background, I am also interested in working in the field of elderly care. Participating in intergenerational integration volunteer service can accumulate experience for future career development Liu Ping said. Professor Lu Jiehua from the Department of Sociology at Peking University said in an interview with our reporter that for mega cities such as Beijing, on the one hand, they have a huge elderly population, and on the other hand, they continue to attract many young new citizens. Developing an "intergenerational integration" elderly care model here not only helps optimize the supply of institutional elderly care services, but also is a beneficial exploration to cope with population aging. It is reported that in a broad sense, "intergenerational integration" in elderly care refers to young people or children entering communities, nursing homes, or elderly people entering kindergartens or children's activity centers. Multiple generations share living or activity spaces while promoting intergenerational communication and achieving mutual benefit through sharing living materials, co organizing cultural and sports activities, and other means. In addition to the two-way companionship of "elderly+youth" explored by the Beijing Elderly Care Industry Association this time, there is also a "intergenerational integration" model of "elderly+children", which integrates the elderly and childcare needs of "one elderly and one young", and has relevant personnel take care of both the elderly and young children at the same time. The relevant models have been relatively mature in some developed countries, and some explorations have also been conducted in domestic cities such as Suzhou and Nanjing in Jiangsu, "said Lu Jiehua. Suzhou, Jiangsu Province is one of the cities in China that developed the "intergenerational integration" elderly care model earlier. At the Jiangling Health Care Center Elderly Apartment in Wujiang District, Suzhou City, the "Intergenerational Integration" project provides companionship, teaching, entertainment, psychological support and other services to more than 140 energetic elderly people (referring to those who are in good health, have mobility, and can take care of themselves) in exchange for independent rooms with complete living facilities and a monthly rent of 300 yuan. The person in charge of the elderly care apartment stated that in the past, there was a high turnover of volunteers who served in elderly care institutions, and there was a lack of cohesion between volunteers and the elderly, which affected the quality of volunteer services. The implementation of the "intergenerational integration" project can not only help college students solve the problem of difficult housing, but also attract young people to enter nursing homes. On a spiritual level, young people and children can help the elderly sweep away their old age and bring vitality to the "new generation". The elderly can also achieve a sense of purpose and happiness in the process of interacting with the "new generation". The "Five Elderly Volunteers" clean and tidy up classrooms for children attending summer holiday schools, while the "Children's Volunteer Team" accompanies elderly people in the community to chat and help with household chores... In Zhilan Community, Xinqi Street, Beilun District, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, "intergenerational integration" promotes the integrated development of elderly care and child rearing. The community caters to the activity needs of the elderly and children, and organizes intergenerational integration activities based on their health status, interests, activity time, etc., achieving a two-way journey of "elderly leading young children, young accompanying old". At present, multiple cities in China are exploring more ways to promote the "intergenerational integration" elderly care model at the institutional level. In urban planning, land transfer, and affordable housing construction, Hangzhou City in Zhejiang Province encourages the construction of all age communities, lifelong residences, multi generational residences, and continuous care communities, creating a family and social scene where young and elderly people live together and integrate generations. Shanghai has incorporated elderly care and childcare services into the "15 minute community living circle" and the comprehensive service system at the doorstep, providing venues, facilities, and other conveniences for energetic elderly people to take care of infants and young children in the community, promoting the integrated development of "one elderly and one small" services; At the same time, we encourage the construction of comprehensive communities and long-term rental apartments that integrate young and elderly people, creating intergenerational integration and vibrant elderly communities. Improving the sustainability of intergenerational integration in elderly care services involves multiple links, can the professionalization of the volunteer team be guaranteed? How to ensure service quality during flexible service hours? Can some elderly care institutions be located in the outskirts of cities, far from the city's core area, to meet the living and commuting needs of young people Living two generations with significant differences in age, place of origin, and lifestyle habits under the same roof still faces many challenges. Young people should not "slap their heads" when submitting resumes. The reporter noticed that the five Beijing elderly care institutions participating in the pilot are located in Chaoyang District, Shijingshan District, Fengtai District, and Changping District, with a relatively long straight-line distance from the city center. For this reason, some responsible persons of pilot institutions stated that "our institution is relatively far from the central urban area, and it is not very convenient to take the subway. Many activities are carried out during the daytime on weekdays, and young people need to consider their own situation comprehensively. Some elderly care institutions are preparing to strengthen the talent cultivation of their volunteer teams and absorb outstanding volunteers into their professional staff. Yu Weixing, Deputy General Manager of Marketing and Operations Department of Suzhou Health Care Group, introduced that the group hopes to provide more incremental services for the elderly and is considering finding some "good seedlings" from "intergenerational integration" elderly care volunteers to work in elderly care institutions. The 'intergenerational integration' model is similar to the previous' time bank 'model, in which young and middle-aged volunteers contribute their service time to institutions in exchange for certain material or service rewards. The difference is that the former realizes immediate returns, while the latter is delayed Lu Jiehua pointed out that this type of model is still at the stage of "adding icing on the cake" for the entire elderly care service industry, and can only be considered an exploration. There is still a long way to go before it can be widely promoted. From the perspective of service content, most of the "intergenerational integration" volunteers in various regions only do some work such as organizing cultural and sports activities, providing psychological counseling, and skill guidance. From the perspective of service recipients, the beneficiaries of the "intergenerational integration" model are mostly elderly people who can take care of themselves, and the coverage of disabled and dementia elderly people is limited. From the perspective of service time, volunteers generally have shorter and more flexible monthly service hours, which makes them unable to handle higher intensity and more regular service work. In addition, the limited economic benefits generated by this model also constrain the enthusiasm of institutions to promote and apply it. How to expand service content, benefit elderly people who are semi self-sufficient or unable to take care of themselves, move from "adding icing on the cake" to "providing charcoal in the snow", and enhance the sustainability of the "intergenerational integration" elderly care model? From the current perspective, allowing young people to live in nursing homes and providing 'intergenerational integration' volunteer services mainly relies on voluntary participation. On a voluntary basis, the sustainability of such projects relies heavily on good economic returns and sound operational mechanisms Lu Jiehua said. Lu Jiehua believes that the construction of "intergenerational integration" elderly care related systems should be promoted. On the one hand, by improving contracts, the relationship between service supply and demand can be fixed, allowing more "intergenerational integration" elderly care volunteers to become long-term practitioners in the elderly care industry; On the other hand, by optimizing incentive mechanisms and enhancing the attractiveness of the "intergenerational integration" model to young people in big cities, we can build a highly specialized and contractual volunteer team. From pilot to deployment, mechanism construction is indispensable, and the ultimate effect must be a 'win-win' situation for the elderly, volunteers, and institutions, balancing economic and social benefits. In the future, in the process of promoting the 'intergenerational integration' elderly care model and improving related mechanisms, we should pay attention to foresight and try to predict possible problems that may arise after implementation, in order to respond in a targeted manner Lu Jiehua said. (New Society)
Edit：Chen Jie Responsible editor：Li Ling
Source：People's Daily
Special statement: if the pictures and texts reproduced or quoted on this site infringe your legitimate rights and interests, please contact this site, and this site will correct and delete them in time. For copyright issues and website cooperation, please contact through outlook new era email：lwxsd@liaowanghn.com
Recommended Reading Change it 
Home
