Guo Shiping visits a resident of Lingxi Nursing Home in Gongzhuling, Jilin province. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Young entrepreneur looks to hybrid services to meet growing demand for senior care

After years of working with seniors, Guo Shiping has acquired a key insight: "The elderly are like kids. They want attention from families and those around them. You need to listen and attend to their needs," he said.

Guo, 34, is a native of Gongzhuling, Jilin province, and the founder of Lingxi Nursing Home. In 2011, he graduated from Kwangwoon University in Seoul, South Korea, with majors in computer science and engineering.

"I guess the idea of starting a nursing home came from my parents," he said.

Guo's father is a local government official and his mother is a doctor. "From childhood, they taught me to care for others and to do meaningful things for society," he said.

The idea to start a nursing home in his hometown came to Guo after he graduated. Over the next year, he visited nursing homes in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, and Changchun, Jilin. He also studied nursing homes in South Korea to look at their concepts on elderly care.

"Our model is a combination of medical and care services. Instead of simply providing meals and meeting basic daily needs, we pay more attention to people's emotions and overall health.

Also, the location of our nursing home is next to a 3A-grade public hospital, which is just a five-minute walk."

Sympathetic design

Lingxi Nursing Home began operating in October 2014. Only eight elderly patrons were admitted at the beginning.

"Society is still biased against those living in nursing homes," Guo said. "People think the elderly are not being well cared for by their children and family. So few are willing to live there."

His nursing home has one seven-floor and one eight-floor buildings, with a total capacity of 980 beds. Each floor is equipped with an activity room for the elderly to play games and chat. The second floor of each building has a theater that can accommodate 300 people.

"When designing the building, special attention was paid to being anti-slip and barrier-free," Guo said. "The elderly can get to the canteen without leaving the building."

He also encountered difficulties in recruiting staff.

"We want to recruit those who are willing to take care of the elderly and who can patiently listen to their needs. It is difficult because not many people are willing to spend time listening," he said.

Training is provided so that employees meet the institution's needs.

Residents of the nursing home watch an old movie. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Regulations

In 2018, the government in Gongzhuling began bringing more market order to the elderly care industry. A group of unregistered private nursing homes was shut down.

"Our service has gained the approval of the elderly, and it has been spread by word-of-mouth. Since 2018, more beds have been occupied," he said.

Now, there are about 286 seniors living in the nursing home who are attended to by 35 caregivers and one doctor.

Besides medical services, efforts have also been made to enrich residents' spare time through activities such as calligraphy, chess and yangko, a type of folk dance.

During festivals, the nursing home organizes activities such as dumpling making, moon watching and movie nights. Teachers are also invited from local colleges to give lessons to residents.

As the manager, Guo also participates in daily work of caring for the residents, polishing nails, changing clothes, washing feet and cutting hair.

"For the elderly, coming to a nursing home is like a kid going to kindergarten. They will be afraid and worried at the beginning," Guo said. "But we are like family here and that eases their concerns and helps solve their problems."

China's population is aging. By 2019, the number of people age 65 and older in Jilin reached 3.74 million, nearly 14 percent of the total population. In Gongzhuling, the number is about 180,000, Guo said.

Lingxi Nursing Home charges each resident 1,000 yuan to 3,000 yuan ($150-$450) per month.

The business is not profitable, but that day is coming, Guo said. "I will continue operations because I believe more people will need our services in the future," he said.

"People's needs will always come first in my nursing home. My next plan is to increase the number of services we provide and learn more from other practices and nursing home models."