It’s Not Just American Seniors That Want to Avoid Nursing Homes – Chinese Seniors Too

(photo by Fechi Fajardo used with Creative Commons Permission from Flickr)

It’s fairly common knowledge in the financial planning and real estate community that seniors facing a need for increased nursing care would prefer to receive that care at home – not in a nursing home. Why? Other than the obvious reasons – scary medical environment, sickly demotivating fellow patients, and unfamiliar environment – most seniors know that nursing home means one thing> death is coming soon. And this scares them as it would scare you. You can check it out to know more about the best senior care home who takes care of all the needs of your elderly parents to make them feel comfortable in a new environment.

And this does not necessarily mean that nursing homes kill people faster. But it certainly appears that way in the minds of people I talk to. And Americans aren’t the only people who feel this way.  Chinese elders feel this way. Read this:

CNTV – Senior Citizens Reluctant to Live in Nursing Homes

From the article:

“The majority of elderly people still prefer to live in the communities they are familiar with and enjoy life with their families,” Wu said.

The survey revealed that 75.7 percent of urban respondents and 71.2 percent of their rural counterparts own their own houses or apartments.

Wu attributed decreasing desire to live in nursing homes to expanded property ownership among the elderly, improved home care services and expanding social security coverage.

Image from Ultimo Community Centre Chinese Seniors Group Folk Dance Fever

With nearly 185 MILLION seniors, China certainly has to deal with a senior care and housing issue of epic proportions. Historically, in an Asian culture like China, there might be a higher likelihood of family taking care of seniors –  certainly to a higher degree than in the US, and I think that Chinese elderly expect that, but things have changed in China. Children have moved far from small rural Chinese towns and far away from parents. They will certainly be facing issues similar to us here in the USA – the issues of government having to find ways to take care of seniors because for whatever reasons, family is not doing it.

FYI: American companies are moving into the Chinese care market. Read one such story here. Headline image from same article.