Grandma Zeng said she lived very comfortably in the Chinese live a retired life community, and a friend said she looked better. ABC News: Kai Feng
Grandma Zeng Shuwen, 90, turned on the TV set in the live a retired life hospital room, skillfully played her favorite song, and sang happily. She said singing and reading newspapers were her favorite things to do.
Key points:
- Live a retired life industry insiders point out that Australian Chinese live a retired life resources are insufficient
- The idea of "Chinese live a retired life community" is to find another way to meet the urgent needs.
- Live a retired life hospital and family live a retired life have their own advantages and disadvantages
Grandma has been in Australia for more than 30 years and her daughter works in Melbourne. In an interview with ABC, she happily told journalist that she lived comfortably at live a retired life Hospital.
Grandma Zeng is just one of many Chinese elderly people in Australia who choose to spend their twilight years in live a retired life.
With the increasing number of Chinese immigrants, the elderly group of Chinese in Australia is also becoming larger and larger. As early immigrants age, more and more parents of new immigrants come to their children. Live a retired life, has naturally become a topic of increasing concern to Chinese immigrants.
The base of the group of the elderly is huge.
According to data from the implementation report of the 1997 live a retired life Act 2017-2018 (hereinafter referred to as the "implementation report"), as at 30 June 2018, the population aged 65 and over in Australia had reached 3.9 million, accounting for 16 per cent of the total population. The population aged 85 and over reached 510000, accounting for 2 per cent of the total population. By 2027, the number of people over 65 years of age in Australia is expected to reach 5.2 million, while the number of people over 85 years of age will reach more than 670000.
According to the 2016 Australian census, more than 1 percent of people over the age of 65 speak Cantonese at home and nearly 1 percent speak Mandarin. About 46000 people over the age of 65 in Australia are born in China.
More than 1 per cent of people over the age of 65 in Australia speak Cantonese at home and nearly 1 per cent speak Mandarin. (Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics)
According to the implementation report, one of the objectives of Australia`s 1997 live a retired life Act is to provide support to groups in need for access to live a retired life services, regardless of race, culture, language, gender, economic conditions and location. At the same time, the decree also identifies a series of groups as "people with special needs" (People with special needs). According to section 11, paragraph 3, of the live a retired life Act, people with special needs include people with multicultural and linguistic backgrounds.
As one of the people with special needs, what is the current situation of Chinese in live a retired life in Australia?
Industry insiders: Australian Chinese live a retired life resources are insufficient
Australian government spent A $18.1 billion on live a retired life in the last fiscal year, more than 12 billion of which was directed to inbound live a retired life institutions, according to the implementation report. As of June 30, 2018, more than 180000 regular residents lived in 886 qualified residential live a retired life services across Australia.
However, in the view of some Chinese live a retired life service industry, the current state is far from meeting the Chinese demand for live a retired life services.
President Wu Minsheng (left) and Manager Wang Heyou agree that the current number of live a retired life institutions cannot meet the live a retired life needs of Chinese people. (ABC News: Kai Feng)
President Wu Minsheng, president of the Chinese Welfare Association for the elderly in Uygur Province, said that what Chinese elderly people need most when they can operate independently is a place for them to eat, sing, dance and talk to their friends. Enjoy your old age. When they are unable to move, they need to enter the Chinese live a retired life Hospital to make them feel at home, so that they will be happy.
"what the old people are most worried about is that they will not be used to staying in the live a retired life hospital of the West. Their biggest wish is to reach the `terminal` of life safely."
Mr. Wu told ABC that there are three large Chinese live a retired life institutions in Victoria, and that it is far from enough to add up to less than 200 beds.
"A lot of Chinese children go to school and work, and many [old people] come here with their children, and according to the current situation [the number of live a retired life homes] is very different," Mr. Wu said.
According to data provided to ABC by (Department of Health), the Federal Department of Health of Australia, 1781 people currently live in the live a retired life hospital and call their place of birth in China.
The Ministry of Health, speaker, said it would not count the number of live a retired life institutions that specialize in serving the elderly Chinese, but as of December 2018, it can be learned from Aged Care Home Services Finder, the live a retired life agency search engine. There are 12 such institutions in Australia.
In Australia, there are not many live a retired life care institutions that can serve the Chinese community, Mr. Huang Hanchang (Ivan Wong), director of home elderly services at (CASS), a Chinese service in Sydney, said in an interview with ABC.
"the cultural needs of the Chinese are in fact very great. For example, in our center, we can arrange Chinese chess, play tai chi, play mahjong, but if in some mainstream organizations, the services provided will not take care of these, "Mr. Huang said."
Ms. Gu Chunhua, who has been in Australia for 13 years, has worked for live a retired life and worked in home live a retired life related industries. Ms. Gu said she felt deeply when she saw the Chinese elderly living in non-Chinese live a retired life homes. So she quit her job and led the establishment of the Australian sunset Chinese live a retired life community in Melbourne last August. This community is not an independent live a retired life hospital, but in the ordinary live a retired life courtyard divided into some beds and spaces, using Chinese decoration, provide Chinese food and Chinese favorite entertainment activities, dedicated to the elderly Chinese accommodation and use.
Ms Gu Chunhua hopes to ease the urgent needs of Chinese live a retired life through the new concept of "Chinese live a retired life Community". (ABC News: Kai Feng)
According to Ms. Gu, the concept of the Chinese live a retired life community is "laying eggs by chicken."
Ms. Gu revealed that the Chinese live a retired life Academy is not meant to be built. Because of the shortage of land and the various considerations of government, the, live a retired life Hospital can only be built far from the urban area, which is very inconvenient for the elderly. So Ms. Gu came up with the solution of the Chinese live a retired life Community.
"We talked about a lot of live a retired life hospitals, but Emerald Terrace live a retired life is the only one that has succeeded at the moment. What we do is difficult, but at least it can solve some urgent needs," Ms. Gu said.
"most Chinese can only complain that they can only go to the Western live a retired life Hospital. These Chinese live a retired life homes will certainly not be able to meet the needs of the Chinese elderly, resulting in a particularly large number of people waiting in line. The elderly cannot wait for it. "
Wang Heyou, general manager of (Victorian Elderly Chinese Hostel) in Uygur Chinese dormitory for the elderly, wants government to give more economic support to small live a retired life homes.
"the economic of the large live a retired life hospital is larger, so government wants to shut down the small organization. But the consequence is that the whole system will work like a machine, just like a big business. When an old man comes in line, he has to go through all kinds of formalities. The live a retired life hospital is a service provider that should operate in a more private and small-scale manner, the most important of which is the consumer experience, so more money needs to be invested in `soft power,` "he said.
Speaker, Federal Health Department of Australia, says government supports elderly care consumers from a multicultural background. According to the National Framework for Diversity of Geriatric Care (National Aged Care Diversity Framework), government issued two specific action plans to make the best use of community resources to help elderly people from multicultural backgrounds to obtain services consistent with their living habits.
Victoria government also said it would build and plan for more Chinese live a retired life facilities.
"in 2018, [Victoria government] allocated A $2.5 million to buy a land in (Springvale South), South Spinway District, to build a 90-bed Chinese live a retired life facility. The Australian and Chinese community parliament Victoria Branch (CCCAV) was selected to operate and manage it, and the facility is expected to be completed in 2022 to meet the needs of the Victorian Chinese elderly community. "the Victorian Department of Health and Public Services, (Victorian Department of Health and Human Services) speaker, told the ABC Chinese Network,
"in addition, government has allocated A $7.25 million to buy land for the construction of new Chinese elderly care facilities. There is also A $500000 to upgrade two existing Chinese live a retired life homes-the Anle Chinese Nursing Home in (Don Vale) in Donville and the Home for the elderly in (Parkville) in Parkville, "said speaker, the Virginia Department of Health.
Two of the two problems: diet and language
Chinese elderly people have unique live a retired life needs, but also face some difficulties. President Wu Minsheng said that the difficulties are mainly caused by two reasons: first, language failure, and second, different living habits. And the most important aspect of living habits is diet.
The great-grandmother, who has lived in the "Australian sunset red" community for more than three months, has also lived in a western-style live a retired life hospital. At that time, she was understood to have complained to her family that she often ate mashed potatoes there and felt very unaccustomed to it. Ms. Gu Chunhua said that when Chinese elders stay in live a retired life hospital, their biggest concern is that they are not used to Western diet.
Manager Wang Heyou said there are special Chinese cooks in the Chinese live a retired life yard who can provide food according to the needs of the elderly. (ABC News: Kai Feng)
Wang Heyou also said that diet is very key to the elderly: "for example, we have more elderly people from Guangdong here, our live a retired life hospital has cooks specializing in Cantonese food." "Mr. Wang said that the Chinese live a retired life Hospital can provide food for the elderly according to their needs. "whether they want porridge, cereal or noodles, we can give them," he said.
Language is another obstacle for Chinese elderly people to live in Western-style live a retired life homes. Ms. Gu Chunhua said: "I have seen old Chinese people sitting in the live a retired life hospital all day. No one spoke to him, and it was very chilling to see it."
Ms. Gu revealed that many Chinese elderly people do not understand English and simply cannot understand Australia`s live a retired life policy on their own. "some old people do not know how to choose the live a retired life hospital at all. Some people say, `there will be one in front of my house, and when I get old, I will live in that one`, but I do not know that the live a retired life hospital may not be suitable for him at all." "said Ms. Gu.
President Wu Minsheng said that it is also very important that the staff of the Chinese live a retired life Hospital are proficient in the language, that the elderly can express themselves in their own language even if there are a few small things, and that the staff can provide services in a timely manner.
"there used to be a lot of Cantonese speakers, but recently more and more old people speak Putonghua. There are fewer and fewer old people who only know Cantonese. Many of the old people who speak Cantonese now also know Putonghua. At the same time, old people who speak Fujian and Hakka can communicate in Putonghua, "Mr. Wu said."
Grandma Locke, 95, told live a retired life staff Chang Jiedong that doing exercise and paying homage to Guanyin were two things she had to do every day. (ABC News: Kai Feng)
Manager Wang says the Chinese live a retired life hospital he runs needs more Mandarin-speaking staff.
"live a retired life, like a small Chinese community, often recruits Chinese students to volunteer, and many old people feel very lively when they come here. It is easier for people from the same cultural background to communicate with each other, "Manager Wang said."
"maybe Cantonese food is not the most popular here in the future. We`re going to start cooking Sichuan food," he said.
Advantages and disadvantages of live a retired life in live a retired life Hospital and Family
President Wu described an interesting phenomenon. There were two types of people who sent their parents to the live a retired life hospital: "one kind is very filial to their parents, they are afraid that when they work, the elderly will not be taken care of at home, and they are very desolate." So it was sent to live a retired life Hospital; The other is not filial to their parents, they do not care about their parents, so they also sent their parents to live a retired life hospital. "in fact, Chinese elderly people usually have their own views and different choices as to whether they should go to live a retired life.
Ms. Gu told journalist that some old people have problems living with their children and even the third generation, which is sometimes not related to filial piety, but is caused by cultural and conceptual differences.
"in fact, many Chinese elders are very open now. They can not live with their children and do not want to add a burden to their children. They just want their children to have a smooth career and a safe family. With the exception of very few very determined statements not to go to live a retired life, most old people are actually ready to go to live a retired life, "she said."
According to Manager Wang, government, Australia, is now trying to make elderly people live at home longer and provide more family live a retired life grants (Home Care Package). "government encourages the introduction of live a retired life resources into the home, rather than letting the elderly out to live a retired life," he said.
Manager Wang said the elderly were able to socialize more in the live a retired life yard. (ABC News: Kai Feng)
There are advantages and disadvantages for living in livearediredlife and livearediredlife. Mr. Wang said the benefit of staying in the livearetriedlife is 24-hour care and all activities are arranged.
"the elderly will feel lonely at home, while the live a retired life Hospital can organize activities suitable for the cultural background of the elderly. Community activities are very important to the elderly," Wang said. "in addition, The live a retired life hospital has a special person in charge of catering, as well as medical and nursing staff on standby. The disadvantage of live a retired life is that family visits are inconvenient and children may come several times a week. "
Mr. Wang said the advantage of family live a retired life is that families have more control, government will have funding, and families can decide how to use the live a retired life service. But there is a phenomenon that old people save the money, and it may be good for them not to use it for their own live a retired life, because they save a sum of money, but it is sad for society. Because the old man is not given the care he deserves.
Cultural and recreational activities held in the Chinese live a retired life community. (Supplied: Chunhua Gu)
Ms. Gu believes that the thinking of the Chinese elderly is different from that of the westerners. What the old people in the West think of is to save money for themselves to spend first, and to give it to their children if they have the rest in a hundred years` time. And Chinese old people will want to save money in their names, try not to use, leave more to their children, the first thing to think of is children.
Mr. wu also expressed the same concern and said that the current government`s policy was not smart enough to give the old man a waste of money. There is also a child who needs to take care of the old man, so there is no law to work, and there is a need for unemployment relief from the government, so that it needs to pay two money at the same time. It`s a smart way to get the old man to the live a red life, where the child has the energy to find a job, to pay for it, and to use the live a redred life.
Manager Wang believes that the old man should enter the live a retired life hospital to a certain extent.
The "To give a simple example of a diaper for an old man with an incontinent, there are two people in charge, and the machine is simple. But what to do at home? This is what it`s going to do every day, three or four times a day, it`s a very heavy work, and it`s a long time to hurt the body of the care, and in the live a`s red life, there`s a formal process in the relevant operations, and the government is very strict," `s manager said.
