Age Bank boosts care for China's elderly citizens
Updated Sun. Feb. 8 2009 10:28 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
In a novel experiment to deal with China's massive elderly population, a businessman has developed a so-called age bank, whereby volunteers care for aging neighbours and then bank the hours for their own care when they grow old.
Traditionally, Chinese families have lived under one roof so younger generations can care for their elders.
However, it is estimated that in 40 years, a third of China's population - about 440 million people - will be over the age of 60, and many may not have relatives to care for them.
The businessman, a former land developer named Feng Kexiong who was himself facing retirement, came up with the idea of having younger volunteers put in time caring for the elderly and then cashing out those hours when they need assistance in their later years.
"In this day and age, all the young people go away to work," Feng told CTV News. "And with so many elderly, this age bank was the way to go."
After four years, the bank now has 250 clients and thousands of logged volunteer hours in just a single neighbourhood.
Twenty other cities across China have also opened their own age banks.
© 2009 
1 comment:
Your post about China and people doing volunteer work with the elderly is an interesting concept. But you can't just "do your time" in order to qualify yourself later.
What we have to do as a society is make our elders "human" again, and not something people avoid and fear.
We have to become educated about the needs of the elderly, and we have to "grow a heart," and really care about them. And this has to first be accomplished at the level of family. You can't make people love each other, but you can cultivate a social mindset that fosters a sense of family/elder importance.
I cared for my mom who had Alzheimer's and Parkinson's--in my home for the last 3 years of her life. My daughters participated, witnessed the challenges, but also observed that it's just what family does--care for each other.
If we can influence people to buy a certain car or brand of jeans, then we should realize that we have the power to influence how they feel about other human beings.
~Carol D. O'Dell
Author of Mothering Mother: A Daughter's Humorous and Heartbreaking Memoir
www.caroldodell.com
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