China Perspective Issues

Yanxia Zhang , Chuanhong Zhang

ABSTRACT: China’s large-scale rural-urban migration and the ageing of its rural population has intensified the challenges of traditional family care. However, the majority of its rural elderly are reluctant to leave the village acquaintance society even after they are too old or sick to take care of themselves, and ageing in the village community is their primary choice. While various practice models of ageing in place (AIP) supported by the local government and communities have emerged in some pioneering areas of rural China, the existing literature has provided very little comparative analysis on these practice models. Based on firsthand data collected from field studies in rural Jiangsu, East China, this article compares and analyses three main AIP practice models, i.e., home-based care funded by the government and provided by volunteers, day care provided by community care centres, and institutional care provided by village-based “happiness homes” and senior apartments. The roles and operational mechanisms of the government, social organisations, market, and local community in promoting AIP in rural areas are discussed from a perspective of multiple collaborative governance. Moreover, effective partnership between different stakeholders for further development of AIP in rural China for the construction of rural age-friendly communities with improved socialised elder care facilities and systems is discussed. The research has significant implications for the promotion of AIP worldwide.

KEYWORDS: practice model, ageing in place, multiple collaborative governance, rural China, state-community effective partnership, age-friendly community.

Shiufai Wong

Yang Cheng , Ruiqing Guang , Xinxin Sun , David Phillips , Mark Rosenberg

ABSTRACT: “Ageing in place” is the preferred choice for the majority of older persons in China, and community care services support them in living in their homes as long as possible. Based on statistics, interview data, and policy documents, this study analyses the provision and utilisation of community care facilities in Beijing by conducting spatial and qualitative analysis based on structuration theory. The mapping and spatial analysis reveal spatial inequity in the allocation of community care facilities in Beijing, which increased from 494 in 2017 to 1,201 in 2020. Communities in suburban areas, where the older population is growing the fastest, have poorer spatial accessibility to community care services than those located in the central city. Qualitative analysis based on interviews with 28 older residents in six communities, and six managers and staff members of community care facilities, revealed high demands for community care services including daily life support, emotional support, and healthcare services, with low utilisation of the services and many challenges for service provision. Poor perception and evaluation of the services by older persons result in low utilisation of the services. Financial difficulties in service provision and limited support from the government are the major challenges reported by the managers. Strategies have also been developed to meet these challenges by the older persons and managers. Text analysis of policy documents shows the development of regulations and policies on the construction, support, and quality management of the community care system. The complex dynamics of interaction between structure and agency in resource allocation and daily practice of service delivery shapes the provision and utilisation of community care services as a relatively new mode for aged care in China. The findings support understanding the challenges of community care service provision and utilisation from a health geography perspective. Joint efforts from local governments, communities, the private sector, and older residents are needed to support ageing in place in Beijing.

KEYWORDS: community care services, provision and utilisation, ageing in place, structuration theory, Beijing.

Jiansong Zheng , Tao Zhang

ABSTRACT: The rapid construction of electronic infrastructure in China has accelerated and promoted the application of the Internet, which improves the quality of life of older adults especially when they choose to age in place. However, it remains unclear how the Internet impacts the well-being of older adults, particularly in China. Based on China Family Panel Studies over the four periods of 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020, panel models and mediation analysis were employed to explore the effects of two dimensions of the Internet, including internet perceptions (perceived importance of the Internet for information retrieval) and internet use, on the well-being of older adults in China. The results showed that (1) the internet perceptions of older adults significantly and positively predicted their subjective well-being; (2) the higher levels of older adults’ internet perceptions were related to the higher degrees of their subjective income and social trust, which in turn promoted their subjective well-being; (3) older adults’ internet use significantly improved their subjective well-being; (4) older netizens with lower levels of subjective income tended to have higher levels of subjective well-being, while social trust did not play a mediating role in the association between internet use and subjective well-being among China’s older adults. The internet perceptions and internet use of older adults exhibited consistent positive effects on their well-being, but there are differences in their mediating mechanisms. Therefore, it is necessary to transform digital services into more age-friendly modules and optimise the internet environment for older adults.

KEYWORDS: subjective well-being, internet perceptions, internet use, subjective income, social trust.