Thesedays,moreandmoreseniorcitizensarechoosingtoretiretocommunitiesofresidentswhosharetheirinterestsandlifestyles.
Chinahasagrowingelderlypopulation.StatisticsfromtheNationalWorkingCommissiononAgingshowthatthecountry鈥檚seniordemographicincreasesby10millionannually.Bytheendof2014,thisgroupreachednearly214.2million,accountingfor15.5percentofthenation鈥檚total.Expertspredictthatby2055seniorswillaccountfor35percentofthenation鈥檚population,whichmeansthataneffectivemethodofcaringforthemhasbecomeapressingneed.
Inrecentyears,thepopulationofempty-nestelderlyhasincreasedduetourbanizationandthecountry鈥檚one-childpolicy.Thetraditionalmethodofprovidingforseniorsisnolongerfeasibleformanyfamilies,communities,andrelatedinstitutions.Manyseniorshatetheideaofburdeningtheirchildrenasmuchasgoingtoanursinghome.Theythereforechoosetospendtheirtwilightdayswithneighbors,classmatesandfriendssotheycanenjoyfreedom,escapeloneliness,andreceivecare.
Suchalifestyledemonstrateshowinthe21stCentury,manygroups鈥搕heelderlyinparticular鈥揳reinnovatingnewmodelsforfulfillingliving.Institutionstaskedwithcaringforthegrowingdemographicarewelcomingthesewonderfulsupplementsanddesigningtheirfuturestrategiesaccordingly.
Economically,鈥渉uddlingforretirement鈥漢appensintwoforms:Oneismarket-oriented.Therearespecially-establishedcommunitiesfortheaged,likethoseinHainanProvince,whicharewellequippedwithdininghalls,educationcenters,gyms,andevenprofessionalnursingorganizations.Anotherisfamilyoriented.Peoplecanchoosetobuyorrenthousesinseniorcommunitiesthatenableresidentstohelpandlookaftereachother.
However,suchachoiceisstillfortheluckybecauseitrequiresboththeabilitytocarryoutsimpletasksofdailylifeandfinancialmeans.Additionally,itcanonlyhappeninrelatively-developedplaces.
Thedreamofthe鈥渉uddlingforretirement鈥漣snotthesolutiontoprovidingfortheelderly.Thetaskwillrequirethejointeffortsofallofsociety.
May10,2015,Mother鈥檚Day:ResidentsofanapartmentfortheagedinFuzhou,capitalofFujianProvince,learntoarrangeflowers.Respondingtotheconceptof鈥渁ctiveaging鈥漣ntroducedbytheWHO,thenewpattern鈥渉uddlingforretirement鈥漜anhelpseniorsmaintainphysically,psychologically,andintelligentlyfullerlives,aslongaspossible.IC