Beijing native studies senior health in Delco
NETHER PROVIDENCE » Roiling debates over the future course of American health care show no signs of abating anytime soon.
But lest Americans believe we’re the only ones thinking long and hard about the thorny issue, Hongwei Wang says her homeland of China faces challenges every bit as complex and decidedly larger in scale.
Consider this statistic: By the year 2050, nearly a quarter of China’s population is projected to be 65 or older. That would equate to about 330 million, or roughly the current entire population of the United States.
That motivates Wang, of Beijing, to learn what she can about how this country is addressing the needs of its quickly growing number of elderly citizens in hopes of making use of those insights back home.
“Senior living services in China are still in the early days,” she said. “I wanted to come here to fill my knowledge gap. Maybe we can improve this industry (in her country) by integrating some best international practices with local cultural approaches.”
Wang, who will be entering her second and final year of a master’s degree program in health administration at Cornell University in New York, hopes an internship she is participating in this summer will serve as a key part of that learning process.
She is working for Sage Senior Living, which operates multiple independentand assist-living properties for seniors in Maryland and Pennsylvania, including the 250-unit Plush Mills complex here. The company also maintains its corporate offices nearby, in the Victoria Mills office center.
Besides her nationality, Wang is not your ordinary intern for several other reasons. She is 40, holds a Ph.D. in computer science and previously worked as a manager for IBM in China before deciding to change careers.
That is why Kelly Andress, the founder and CEO of Sage Senior Living, was excited at the prospect of Wang at least temporarily working for her firm.
“It’s been a fantastic experience,” said Andress, who first met Wang when she spoke at a conference at Cornell on combining hospitality with health care for seniors. The student also spent 10 days over her winter break earlier this year at the company’s offices.
“She delves into issues and her thinking is at a more complex level” than a typical intern, Andress said.
That level of sophistication comes across during an interview at Plush Mills as Wang recounts meeting Andress and her experiences thus far at Sage Senior Living. As she spoke, a piano player entertained residents in an adjoining lounge with such sing-along songs as “What a Beautiful World”.
“I was so impressed by her (Andress) and her passion. Her passion is contagious,” Wang said. “She’s a person that you want to work for.”
During the first month of her internship, Wang was engaged in the direct care of assisted-living residents as a resident assistant. That involved helping the seniors with the activities of daily living, including getting out of bed, getting dressed and showering. In some cases, she would need to feed them.
“That work was very challenging for me because many are very dependent. Some have Alzheimer’s. They feel frustrated about their declining abilities. They feel frustrated and angry,” Wang said.
“It’s not easy to communicate with them. You need to be very patient. You give them time and need to have understanding, especially about their earlier life and what they’ve lost.”
At the same time, the experience provided Wang with an understanding of not only the needs of the residents but also the employees who care for them.
“They (the workers) must be attentive all the time,” she said.
For the second half of her internship, Wang is working at Sage Senior Living’s corporate offices, getting a closeup look at the administrative side of things, which encompasses such areas as marketing, finance and construction planning.
She has been assisting Vice President of Human Resources Meg Jones with a project that involves analyzing worker retention and turnover, and why it can be difficult to hold on to senior living facility employees.
Donna Ferruzzi, a marketing staffer for the company, said the issue is a big one across the industry.
“There aren’t enough workers to go around,” Ferruzzi said, adding that backgrounds include training as certified nursing assistants and medical technicians. “A big heart is the important part.”
Reflecting on how what she’s seeing in the U.S. differs from circumstances in China, Wang said the onechild policy that was in effect for many years (and has since been halted) in her native land is impacting society. The first children of that cohort are turning 38 this year.
“This generation is becoming the sandwich generation. They have to care for their own children and their parents and they have no siblings to help,” she said.
What’s more, more than 90 percent of Chinese say they prefer to age at home with their families, but “the reality is there is a huge burden for this middle-age generation,” with some couples having to care for four parents.
This means “there will be a huge market demand for communities to care for older people in the next 10 to 20 years.”
At the same time, urban areas are where most of the services and facilities that can meet the needs of aging residents are concentrated, Wang said.
When she returns to China, Wang, who received her computer science doctorate from Peking University, hopes to put to use her new knowledge not only on behalf of clients but also her mother, who resides with her sister. Her father passed away 12 years ago.
“People cannot see the value of moving in” to a senior living community, she said. “If we can improve the services, more will be willing to come.”