Aging China faces elder neglect (5)

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By Xinhua writers Zhou Yan and Pan Qiang (Xinhua) 20:56, October 11, 2013

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Such associations are already working in some counties. In Fusui, of Chongzuo City, the senior care association has doctors and nurses in many villages. "The elder villagers can call me when they are sick and I will visit them immediately," said a village doctor who gave her family name as Huang.

The senior care association also has an entertainment room for the elders to play mah-jong and ping pong.

Early this year, the ministry of civil affairs vowed to provide better care for elders, particularly deprived parents who had lost their only children.

"The government will provide for these people," said vice minister of civil affairs Dou Yupei in February, adding that the ministry was working on details covering cash compensation and services delivered to their homes.

In many provinces, family planning and civil affairs authorities have teamed up with nongovernmental bodies to provide community services and counseling for deprived elderly people.

In Beijing, a charity fund for senior citizen care has launched special aid programs for deprived parents. The Beijing Ruipuhua Old-Age Care Fund, established in Feb. 2011, has raised donations from individual and corporate donors for deprived elderly people with financial difficulties.

The fund also provides community services for "empty nesters" and plans to build three nursing homes in 10 years.