'We now have our freedom back!' Shanghai's elderly in older communities get assistance to stay in their homes

Zhao Jinxia, 81, steps onto a small metal platform in a stairwell in his old apartment block. He lowers a barrier, grips the handrail, presses a button and glides downward. It takes three stair lifts and three minutes to reach the ground floor.

Zhao and thousands of other elderly people are benefiting from government programs aimed at helping people stay in their homes as long as possible and avoid institutional care.

With over 577 million people aged 60 and older in Shanghai – 38 percent of its registered population – the city faces one of the steepest aging curves in China. Ninety percent of city seniors remain in their homes, 7 percent are in community care and only 3 percent are in nursing homes. Officials want to keep the latter figure from rising.

Filial piety, a deep-rooted Chinese cultural norm, means most aging parents are cared for by children at home. But in many cases, children live afar and can't help, or have hectic work schedules with little time to spare.

In-home assistance programs are expanding worldwide, based not only on humanitarian concerns but also on the fact that it's cheaper for the elderly to stay at home than to go into institutional care.

In the US, the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) provides medical and social services support to help seniors remain at home. Australia subsidizes care workers who go into homes to help seniors bathe, prepare meals and do household cleaning. The UK operates the Lifetime Homes initiative, and Canada's FlexHousing program promotes adaptation of homes to help those with mobility problems.

At the 119 Kongjiang 4th Community in Shanghai's Yangpu District, Zhao and his wife, both in their 80s, were once what locals call "suspended elderly" – that is, people trapped on upper floors of old buildings with no elevators, which are costly to install.

The so-called "sliding elevator," a compact, traction-style lift that slots into stairwell channels, is the first of its kind in Shanghai and a promising solution.

"It's simple. No digging. No damage to the building. Easy to use," said Zhang Yi, a 57-year-old resident who spearheaded the installation completed in March. "We now have our freedom back!"

A sliding elevator for a flight of stairs costs around 18,800 yuan (US$2,623), meaning that most old apartment blocks can install them for under 96,000 yuan. It takes 10 days to finish the installation.

Residents split the cost, with those living on higher floors paying more. Maintenance costs are minimal, about 150 yuan per unit per year. The units can be detached in 15 seconds to allow for moving large furniture or other bulky equipment along stairways.

The sliding elevator is just one part of a larger, city-backed campaign to adapt Shanghai's aging housing stock to the needs of its elderly population.

In the past decade, a massive campaign to install elevators in old walk-ups has been underway. Districts like Hongkou and Putuo have taken the lead, with Hongkou completing over 500 installations since 2015. Projects begin with resident approval, then costs are split, with government subsidies of up to 60 percent.

Zhang, a sixth-floor resident, said a traditional elevator wasn't possible in his residential block because of an air raid shelter below. Instead, he found the compact lift online from a Beijing company.

He proposed the idea to all 18 households in his block and won unanimous support, which can be difficult for elevator installations when ground floor residents who won't use them balk at sharing the cost.

Liu Yunfang, the neighborhood Party secretary, said the sliding elevators enable upper-floor residents to visit friends, go shopping or sit in the park.

"Their world is expanded," she said.

Liu said similar compact lifts are being considered for other buildings in the community. Each day, residents from across the city visit to try out the new system.

Home modifications

Helping the elderly remain in their homes isn't just about the ability to get out and about. Shanghai is also promoting home modifications, like safety handrails in bathrooms, raised washing machines and the replacement of old gas lines.

Low-income residents 60 years and older are eligible for government subsidies of up to 5,000 yuan to defray the costs. Approved service companies oversee safety and design standards.

Huang Chanzhen, 92, recently had her apartment renovated through the government program.

"My old bathtub was dangerous," she said. "And I couldn't bend down to load the washing machine."

Workers installed a walk-in shower with a grab bar, lowered the kitchen counters, upgraded the wiring and built a raised platform for the washer.

"Huge difference!" Huang told Shanghai Daily, who lives with her son, who needs regular renal dialysis, and her grandson.

Shu Changjing, 84, who has Parkinson's disease, now has a bathroom equipped with handrails and a mobile call button.

"It feels like the house understands me now," she said.

Sun Minghua, 87, shares his home with a bedridden spouse. A caregiver visits daily under a city-run program to assist with meals, hygiene and other basic care.

"They help clean, cook, even buy medicine," said his daughter. "We want to care for them at home, but we need help to do that."

Since the program began, more than 1,800 families in Hongkou, where 45 percent of residents are seniors, have benefited from home upgrades. Of the 800 homes already retrofitted, an average 10 safety hazards were eliminated.

"Our goal is to bring the services of a nursing home into the family home," said Liu Huijuan, deputy director at the city's elderly services office. "It allows seniors to live with dignity and security in familiar surroundings."

Zhang Yi stood by his 92-year-old neighbor Mao Wenying as she stepped onto the stairway lift and rode down with ease.

"This is not high-tech," he said. "But it changes lives."