The Nursing Home Economy in China and the Problems It Is Facing
The aging trend has aroused people’s growing concern about the around-the-clock care, especially for those who worked conscientiously for the society all their life. As is acknowledged, the number of newly born babies has been decreasing in the recent decades, causing looming pension crises. The pressure transferred to younger workforce is externalized as surging taxation and much workload, ending up with barely any time to care for the elderly. Nursing home, under such circumstance, is becoming a desirable option. In China, the nursing home industry is divided into two categories: non-profit and private. The vast majority of non-profit nursing homes offer basic accommodation for older people who are not eligible to work, struggle in severe poverty or have no children. Other private nursing facilities are established to satisfy rehab needs and provide professional medicaid. In China, the industry of nursing facilities is linked between health services and public services. The upper reaches of the industrial chain include Finance, Real Estates, supply of health products and equipment, and staff training, with the operation of nursing facilities in the middle and the target group in the lower reaches. Well-known Insurance companies take charge of the Finance sector in the chain.
Perfect as the industrial chain seems to be, problems emerge as the older people are unwilling to entrust themselves to the nursing facilities, which is often influenced by both the traditional moral concept and the various levels of services. While taking care of the elderly is regarded as the filial duty, leaving parents in nursing homes means abandonment. The older people are afraid of being abused by staff and nurses both physically and mentally, given that they might not behave as well as children with blood ties, especially in non-profit nursing homes that rest merely on grants. Furthermore, the qualification of staff hired varies considerably in accordance with the grade of nursing homes. Some facilities even lack fundamental orientation, which intensifies people’s fear.
In addition, many families find it either risky or unaffordable when choosing nursing facilities. Some private facilities charge millions of deposit, membership fees and cash in advance to sustain operation but still face threats of bankruptcy as the money trail is never transparent. Others lift the entry prices and will thoroughly investigate the new residents financial situations before admission, though such kind of nursing facilities are superior in all ranges. People live in a neighborhood where they have access to entertainment, hospital, supermarket, library, gyms and barbers, enjoying expensive health products and medical equipment all in readiness.
The nursing home itself is also in dilemma. For private nursing home, it is hard to survive completely on private-pay revenues due to the high cost of training and the testing of nursing bed and other equipment, as well as the crunch of available nurses. To tackle with the problem, a facility in Guangzhou Province has cooperated with a designated nursing school to hire staff who major in nursing, which may reduce the training cost.
To be short, it is a matter of money and energy for both the elderly and the facilities when finding balance between lower expenditure and higher revenues.
As proposed recently, the smart nursing system can automatically filter facilities with a reasonable price range and service of relatively high quality, and enables the elderly to check the availability of beds. In terms of the facilities, they can better manage reception, health files and other information of the residents, which elevates operating efficiency.
In spite of much space for improvement, the nursing home industry is undoubtedly booming in the aging society.
