CRI听力:Elders Enjoying Life in Nursing Homes

A group of elders joins in a chorus as they enjoy their daily entertainment at Minzu Nursing Home in western Beijing.

The privately-run institution provides skilled nursing care as well as the assistance with daily activities for more than 400 senior citizens.

Eighty-year-old Zhang Huiying has lived there for three years. She says she feels satisfied with the service.

"We are happy here, and I feel very relaxed. I have nothing to worry about, except how to entertain myself. Everyday we have nutritious meals at regular hours, so some of us put on weight just one month after moving in."

The current situation marks an abrupt shift from traditional Chinese beliefs that living under the same roof with elderly parents is an essential part of filial piety for young people. And many old people, like Yang Yaoying, say they were reluctant to leave their own houses in the first place.

"I've been living in my own house for 40 years, and it takes a long time to collect all of these things for daily use. How can I leave them?"

However, Yang says she was determined to ease her children's burden, as they lack time and energy to take care of her even they are willing to do so.

Many families are left with the same choice, as a growing number of adults now live far away from their parents, and the travel time and life's pressures are stressing them out.

On the other hand, nursing homes, which focus on providing nursing care for elders, have difficulties meeting the residents' emotional needs.

Yang Yaoying says despite the entertainment, she wants to get involved in more activities to enrich her life.

"The main recreation activities here only include things like poker and mahjong. The workers do everything for us – they cook, and we just eat and sleep. It's meaningless, and I want to do something really meaningful. We may be old, but we still want to live with dignity. We must live with dignity."

As for such, office director Zhu Dongxia says a shortage of employees is the main difficulty they are faced with.

"We have only 50 employees here, including executives, cooks, logistic workers and care givers. Local residents are reluctant to work here, especially when it comes to taking care of the bedridden ones. Most of the workers come from remote areas. We have no extra hands to take care of their emotional needs".

Zhu is calling for more people to get involved in senior care careers.

For CRI, I'm Alex Mcnab.