A group of psychological experts in Shanghai's Zhabei District
is offering consulting services and lifestyle classes to elderly
residents of this rapidly aging city to help them cope with the
struggles of old age.
Most of the group's members belong to the district's chapter of
the Shanghai Committee of the China Association for Promoting
Democracy (CAPD) .
Qin Qigeng, a psychologist and one of the group's founders, said
China faces a number of challenges associated with its aging
population.
To address the situation, Qin has teamed up with other
psychologists to provide free lifestyle classes to senior
residents, especially widows and widowers who live alone, to help
them cope with the demands of daily life.
The group is also working with local officials to offer more
psychological consultancy services in other districts.
Shanghai is one of China's most rapidly aging cities. The
Shanghai Population and Family Planning Committee has estimated
that people aged 60 and above will account for about a third of the
city's population by 2020.
Zhabei District has the largest share of seniors who live alone.
More than 710,000 senior citizens live separately from their
children in Shanghai. More than 170,000 of them are single and live
alone. In the district's Baoshan neighborhood, single seniors who
live alone account for 28 percent of the population.
Qin and several other members of his group first started working
with members of this demographic back in 2004.
Qin said he was inspired to start offering consultancy services
to the elderly by a case in which a retired senior official tried
to kill himself.
The official was introverted and diligent in his professional
life and found it difficult to adjust to being retired. Unable to
share his feelings with his wife and children, he eventually
attempted suicide.
Qin intervened and offered the man psychological treatment, and
he quickly recovered. The man was so pleased that he urged Qin to
offer his psychological consultancy services to some of his
friends.
Convinced of the value of getting seniors out of their rooms to
interact with other people, Qin started arranging life classes for
the elderly.
"In addition to providing opportunities for the seniors to
communicate more with each other, we find it very helpful to take
some time to listen to their stories," said Chen Mo, another
psychologist who works with the group.
An elderly woman who was very beautiful and rich in her youth
suffered loneliness and anguish over her faded appearance. "Having
someone to talk to about her golden days soothed her," Chen
said.
Qin's group have urged the public to pay more attention to the
elderly, particularly since the group conducted a survey in Zhabei
District, showing that local seniors valued filial piety most and
longed for their children's company.
(China Daily January 11, 2007)