Recently, an article titled "A well-known old bakery at 85 degrees C is full of "frustrated" Shanghai elderly people" has sparked heated discussions on the Internet. The old man in the article often appears in an "85 Degree C" bakery in Pengpu New Village, Jing'an District, Shanghai. From noon to afternoon every working day, this place will become a fixed place for the old people to spend time.
In fact, this bakery is not the only place “occupied” by the elderly. On a weekday afternoon in January, I was in the Qibao Vanke Shopping Mall in Minhang District, Shanghai, and saw that the two Starbucks and a McDonald's here were all full of elderly people. They either gathered together to chat, or just found a corner to sit and use video software to live broadcast their day's progress. Some couples took a seat each, lying back and taking a nap.
A clerk at a coffee shop told me that nearly 30% of the elderly people here "didn't order anything." "We can't drive them away. Many people actually come every day. I'm used to it." The young clerk said that sometimes when he saw his uncles and aunts here, it was like seeing his parents who had retired in his hometown. "The store It’s open as long as it’s open, and it’s good to give the elderly a place to rest.”
Cafes and bakeries almost meet all the factors that the elderly care about: warmth, close to home, many people of the same age, and inexpensive things. As the above-mentioned hot article said, "In the lives of the elderly, there is indeed a lack of such a public space."
Shanghai is currently the city with the highest degree of aging in the country. Many of Shanghai’s aging-friendly practices are worth copying and promoting across the country. For example, the elderly meal service points and canteens for the elderly throughout Shanghai effectively meet the needs of the elderly and nearby white-collar workers for affordable and clean meals three times a day. Another example is that day care centers and elderly care homes are available in almost every community. The prices are open and transparent, and they provide support services for disabled elderly people, semi-disabled elderly people, and elderly people who have just undergone surgery and have no one to care for them. .
On the Shanghai elderly care service platform, all elderly service places have contact numbers. Some places publish not only landline numbers but also mobile phone numbers. There are 2,279 elderly meal service places, 921 day care centers, and 2,034 elderly care homes that can be queried. On the homepage of an elderly home in the most central area of Shanghai's Huangpu District, it is clearly stated that the monthly bed fee plus nursing fee is approximately 2,700 yuan to 3,300 yuan.
However, why do the elderly still feel that “there is no public space around them”? I further inquired and found that Shanghai actually has 6,248 elderly activity rooms, 487 comprehensive service centers for the elderly, and 3,720 good neighbor points. These can theoretically provide public spaces for the elderly who can take care of themselves.
But why don't the old people go? I opened the homepages of several of the aforementioned activity spaces, and each space showed its own "configuration" in pictures - a comprehensive service center for the elderly in a town in the northern suburbs, with an area of 1,050 square meters, and offices inside. Tables, computers, conference rooms, recliners, massage chairs, and heart-to-heart conversations; in a day service center for the elderly in a town in the southern suburbs, there are 8 single sofas, with a small blanket neatly stacked on each sofa, and configurations There is a gym with stair climbing machines and treadmills, and a reading room with a few random books. A social worker who has worked in the elderly care industry for 5 years said, "I think we need to reflect. Who are the elderly service facilities in our community built for? There are more and more facilities, but how many people are served? What kind of services should we provide? service?”
I noticed that although the public elderly care spaces run by the government have sincerity, they lack warmth; although they have space, they lack operation. For example, grassroots streets and village committees have allocated more than 100 square meters or even thousands of square meters of space to serve the elderly. This is "full of sincerity" in Shanghai where land is at a premium, but these spaces lack warm decoration. , some have air conditioners installed, but they cannot be used for a long time; some have stipulated opening and closing times, but there may not always be someone responsible for opening and closing the doors; some have purchased fitness facilities, but they may not consider the "ageing suitability" of these facilities. Old people with handicapped legs and feet cannot "climb" the stair climbing machine.
In the face of an increasing number of elderly people, whether the government-run and temporarily idle service spaces for the elderly can be utilized as soon as possible and whether their operational capabilities can be improved are urgent issues facing many city managers.
Wang Yejie Source: China Youth Daily