Practice Models of Rural China’s Ageing in Place: From the Perspective of Multiple Collaborative Governance
Yanxia Zhang, Chuanhong Zhang
Correspongding Author:Chuanhong Zhang, e-mail:dianazhang@cau.edu.cn
China Perspectives, Published online:2023
Abstract: China’s large-scale rural-urban migration and the ageing of its rural population has intensified the challenges of traditional family care. However, the majority of its rural elderly are reluctant to leave the village acquaintance society even after they are too old or sick to take care of themselves, and ageing in the village community is their primary choice. While various practice models of ageing in place (AIP) supported by the local government and communities have emerged in some pioneering areas of rural China, the existing literature has provided very little comparative analysis on these practice models. Based on firsthand data collected from field studies in rural Jiangsu, East China, this article compares and analyses three main AIP practice models, i.e., home-based care funded by the government and provided by volunteers, day care provided by community care centres, and institutional care provided by village-based “happiness homes” and senior apartments. The roles and operational mechanisms of the government, social organisations, market, and local community in promoting AIP in rural areas are discussed from a perspective of multiple collaborative governance. Moreover, effective partnership between different stakeholders for further development of AIP in rural China for the construction of rural age-friendly communities with improved socialised elder care facilities and systems is discussed. The research has significant implications for the promotion of AIP worldwide.
Keywords: practice model, ageing in place, multiple collaborative governance, rural China, state-community effective partnership, age-friendly community.
To link to this artical:https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/informit.353307047244172
