Australian standards of elder care to be adapted for Shanghai

Local vocational school Shanghai Sipo Polytechnic and Provectuscare Mansion, the city’s first institute that offers professional care for elders with dementia, will work together to train nurses to take care of elders with dementia and draft care standards.

“The standards will be based on those in Australia and adapted to suit our environment,” said Shen Xiaoping, head of the school. “We hope to make high standards, but we just can’t implement those standards coming from Australia. So, we have to make some changes. Our standards are very likely to be used in hospitals and care facilitates throughout China.”

Shanghai is in great need of nurses. Only 14 schools have nursing majors, and very few graduates choose to go into elder care after they graduate.

Provectuscare Mansion, at the Shanghai International Medical Center, was built by the hospital, Australian group Provectus Care and property developer Greenland Hong Kong. It offers care for elders with cognitive diseases, especially Alzheimer’s disease.

It is estimated that Shanghai has 200,000 senior people with Alzheimer’s disease and across the country, there is a lack of institutes or medical professionals to take care of such patients. 

“We must establish a whole-process care system, from monitoring health of elders in community-based clinics to offering professional care at institutes,” said Li Xia, doctor from Shanghai Mental Health Center. “We should be fully prepared.”