|
||||||||
|
SOCIAL MEDICINE Bracing for Elder Wave, Chinese View State's Aging Services
Wen Qing Yun led a Chinese delegation to the state to observe community services for the elderly. Photo by Liza Green, HMS Media Services A delegation of seven Chinese officials visited the Medical School at the end of October to learn about the community-based services Massachusetts offers to elders living in the community. The need to respond to an aging population is even more serious in China than in the U.S. According to U.N. estimates, Americans 60 or older made up 16 percent of the population in 1999 and will account for 28 percent in 2050. Over the same period, the proportion of elders in China will expand from 10 to 30 percent of the population. The delegation, hosted by Sue Levkoff, HMS associate professor of social medicine and of psychiatry at Brigham and Women's Hospital, was led by Wen Qing Yun, a director in the Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau. A federal agency, the bureau is responsible for regional policies to handle the increasing number of Chinese elders, focusing on areas such as education, respite care, referrals, regional planning, ombud services, and elder abuse. The officials heard a presentation by Ellen Birchander from the Executive Office of Elder Affairs of Massachusetts, who discussed the nature and organization of state services. During their visit, the group also toured Boston elder facilities and heard talks from service providers. The overarching goal in both countries is to keep elders living and functioning in the community as long as possible. Fifty years from now in China, that means trying to accommodate an estimated 440 million elders. |
