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▶ Pilot project gives young professionals free apartments in old age homes in exchange for spending time with residents
“Many of these seniors used to be experts in their respective fields. Some were doctors, and some used to be managers. When I have questions in these areas, I can always consult them.”
Shan Ting
a young volunteer at an old age home
Young professionals in Hangzhou can spend 20 hours a month with the elderly in exchange for a free place to stay
The project allows elderly people stuck in the nursing home to spend more time with young people through courses and activities
Many public nursing homes across China are plagued with long waiting lists, and could not adopt this model
It was 9 o’clock in the morning, and Yang Yunhai, aged 29, was giving a calligraphy course to his neighbors – around 20 old people who live with him at the Sunshine Home Nursing Home in Binjiang district, Hangzhou, East China’s Zhejiang Province.
At the start of the class, Yang displayed their homework, and gave each of them a comment. “I really need to praise you, Huang Ayi, as it’s the first time you handed in your homework,” he said to Huang Jing, 67, the youngest student in class. Huang replied with a mischievous smile.
“Old Wu, your writing has improved a lot. I can see you’ve been practicing secretly,” he said to another participant.
As the class proceeded, people kept coming in. Two old men misremembered the class schedule, and one was caught up in his daily morning exercises.
But all were attentive as they started learning the new characters of the day, and Wang strolled around the classroom to help them with their strokes.
Yang has been giving courses like this at the nursing home since July. It is the same for Shan Ting, 27, a hardware engineer in Binjiang district, who has been offering help with the nursing home’s dancing activities and giving English courses.
Both Shan and Yang are among the 14 participants of Binjiang district’s companionship project. Run by Binjiang district authorities, it provides single young people within seven years of their college graduation free accommodation inside the nursing home for six months.
The only demand is that they need to commit a minimum of 20 hours of their time to their elderly neighbors every month.
Wang Kai, director of social work at Sunshine Home, who heads the project, said it allows young people to exchange their spare hours for rent at the nursing home. The aim is to provide more services to the old people at the nursing home.
Volunteers can choose to devote their time to a range of services including simple companionship, teaching courses for the elderly such as how to use smart phones, and assistance during special events such as festival celebrations.
“Allowing these young people to live in some of our vacant rooms can not only bring more vitality to the nursing home, but also build up a support network here,” Wang told the Global Times.
Inspired by Europe
Wang said the project, initially proposed by Binjiang district’s Communist Youth League Committee and Civil Affairs Bureau, took its inspiration from similar projects in some European countries.
Countries like the Netherlands and Denmark have all rolled out similar projects in recent years.
Binjiang district, however, adapted it for its own purposes to boost social interaction among over 600 elderly people in the nursing home, who often have only other old people to talk to.
In addition, the project can help alleviate rental pressure on young people in Hangzhou. A survey by the Economic Observer this August shows that the average rent of Hangzhou ranks fourth in China, right after Beijing, Shenzhen and Shanghai, at 55.33 yuan ($8) per square-meter each month. This means a 30-square-meter space in Hangzhou would cost 1,500 yuan on average.
Last December, the project launched its first trial. During the trial, companies in Binjiang district were asked to recommend candidates for the project. This year, application is open for all youth working in Binjiang district, as long as they have no property in Hangzhou, hold a bachelor’s degree or above, and are within seven years of graduation.
“These requirements will ensure that they can balance work and service at the nursing home,” Wang explained.
Two people share a 30-square-meter studio apartment, which features a bathroom, two single beds, desks and a large balcony. “The room faces the south and has all the facilities we need. It’s much better than my previous studio room,” Yang said.
Rent is waived. The young residents only have to pay 300 yuan for utilities.
All the participants in the nursing home project said they’re happy to devote some of their hours to the elderly.
Yang, who graduated with a degree in traditional Chinese painting at Heilongjiang University in 2013, currently offers a calligraphy course to his elderly neighbors every Wednesday morning.
His students include 77-year-old Shi Shaohua, who moved here from Shanghai after her husband passed away last year.
“For me, the young people here bring energy to the nursing home. Apart from calligraphy, they offer us help in technology and so on,” she told the Global Times.
Huang Jing, who used to be a pharmacist before retirement, said the same thing.
“They are really heartwarming. When the temperature is cold, and when the road in front of the nursing home is
under construction, the young people send us their concern on WeChat. I really appreciate them,” she said.
Shan started to offer an English course to the elderly this week, starting with the ABCs. “I taught them the alphabet song and a simple dialogue,” she said.
Both Shan and Yang said the project is also an opportunity for them to learn from the elderly.
“There’s one old lady in my class who’s very energetic, even more so than young people. She often says, ‘I want to learn this, I want to learn that, or there will be no time left for me.’ It really makes me reflect on how I should spend my time when I’m still young,” he said.
Shan said, “Many of these seniors used to be experts in their respective fields. Some were doctors, and some used to be managers. When I have questions in these areas, I can always consult them. And they’re always happy to answer my questions.”
Long-term fix
The project, after media coverage, sparked a discussion over whether it can be promoted in other parts of China, as China’s rapidly aging society poses a problem for elderly care.
According to the China National Committee on Aging, the population of people over 60 years old reached 240 million at the end of 2017, accounting for 17.3 percent of the total population.
Wang said as long as a nursing home has vacant rooms, with some simple policy support, the project can be promoted in other cities in China. “It’s not difficult to replicate this model. Actually some other nursing homes in Hangzhou have already contacted us to learn about our experience,” he said.
But some said that this may prove difficult for the majority of public nursing homes in China, which are notorious for their long waiting lists, although it’s feasible to carry out the project in private nursing homes.
A key to the success of the project is to ensure that young people will provide the services.
Last year, the Shanghai Senior Citizen Post reported a similar project in Wangnianhui, a Shanghai nursing home. The nursing home provided 14 double rooms for young people at a rent lower than 1,000 yuan, about a fifth of market price, as long as they provided 20 hours of monthly services to the elderly.
The project, however, was cancelled this year because the young residents who signed up failed to provide services that meet the nursing home’s standards, the Shanghai Observer reported.
Kong Zhiming, director of the project at Wangnianhui, said the project initially tried to attract young people with good education backgrounds and skills, but now he thinks the most important qualification is a motivation to help the elderly. “We hoped they could communicate with the elderly face to face. Unfortunately the results were not satisfying. No matter how strong their professional background is, if they’re not willing to communicate, it’s useless,” he told the Shanghai Observer.
He was echoed by Shan Ting. “The most basic requirement is whether you have the heart to serve the people.”
The young people need to get used to the living environment, which is much slower and quieter than the hectic city life they’re used to. Near the Sunshine Home, for example, the closest restaurant is nearly 2 kilometers away, let alone cinemas or shopping centers.
“Some young people prefer living in busier areas, and they find it hard to get used to life here. But a lot of young people like this lifestyle and feel at peace living here,” he said.