Study On The Model Of Senior Mutual Support Happiness Home Invillage:Supportive Social Structure Perspective

With the weakening of family support and the deficiency of society and government involvement in old-age support in rural China,the wellbeing of old adults who live alone faces challenges.The Mutual Support Happiness Homes(MSHHs)based on mutual supports among seniors in centralized residence in community emerges to response the changing of social structure which supports existed old-support system.The thesis is based on the case study of cradle MSHH in Hebei province,the comparative MSHH cases in surrounding areas,and the Village model in United States of America.From the perspective of supportive social structure,the emergence of any old-support model is a response to social structure changing,and the concrete contents of old-support model also changes along with social structure.The old-support model need to embed into supportive social structure to fulfill sustainable development.Since the supportive social structure is weak at the early stage of old-support model development,it needs the supports and guidance at economic,politic,and social cultural aspects,or,the old-support model may face the risk of failure.Therefore,the governments and social policies for old-support model as an important part of supportive social structure need to be constructed.Traditional family support and filial morality is an obstruction for the practice of "mutual support by seniors themselves" concept.While the difficulties to fulfil the traditional family support and filial morality is an indicator of seniors' potential needs for mutual support,which is beneficial to the mobilization of MSHH model.The mandatory regulation in MSHH aims to shape and maintain the community order which contributes to old adults' safety and well-organized life;while different from institutional care,the family-oriented flexible management in MSHH is beneficial to seniors,happiness life and wellbeing.Since the old adults' demands are various in MSHH,daily care demands could be satisfied by mutual support and interactive behavior in daily life,accidental events,and self-management;family serves as complementary body on providing daily care for seniors.By MSHH residents' self-management,government and society's involvement in MSHH,MSHH residents get social respects and feel belongings to MSHH,community and society;and realize the value of themselves and social responsibilities to solve old support problems in rural China.Although MSHH model has limitations on supporting seniors who are unable to care themselves and could not avoid conflicts among seniors\interaction,this model has advantages over institutional support and family support on meeting the needs of seniors who have and partly have self-care ability.Additionally,public opinion in acquaintance society is helpful to strengthen families,involvement to MSHH model.The first MSHH is grass-rooted,then government extends MSHH nationally by up-down approach.The sustainable development of MSHH model is affected by multi-factors,and its development exists various unexpected policy outcomes.In the process of guiding rural residents to change the traditional old-age support concepts gradually,meeting old adults' demands,managing of MSHH,and getting governments' funding and policy guarantee to avoid above outcomes and build supportive social structure are necessary.Family support is a gene of Chinese traditional culture,and it will exist in society permanently.With the changing of social structure,the forms and contents of family support will change accordingly.Since the family support is increasingly weaker,the MSHH model shares the burden of family support,and combined with other support models to give more choices for old adults to fulfill aging in place.MSHH model and Village model indicates following inspirations for future old-age support system reform in rural China:rural old-age support policy should be designed based on old adults' demands,and pay more attention to service benefits based on improving cash benefits gradually;to build home-based old-age care service system,community-based quasi-institutional care system as well as institutional support system which focus on nursing;to combine medical care with community-based old-age care system to extend seniors' self-care duration and improve life quality.In addition,attaching importance to seniors' social involvement is also valuable.