(China Daily) BEIJING – Nearly half of China’s nursing homes are refusing to accept elderly people if they have physical or mental impairments, mainly because of severe shortages of nursing staff and healthcare facilities, according to a report released on Tuesday by the country’s leading authorities on senior citizens. <\/p>\n
About 33 million seniors have completely or partially lost the ability to live independently, which accounts for about 19 percent of the country’s over-60s, according to research jointly conducted last year by the China National Committee on Ageing and the China Research Center on Ageing.<\/p>\n
But, despite the fact that there is so much demand for assisted living spaces, the report said there was a lack of facilities offering the services.<\/p>\n
“At the moment, most old people in China still rely on family members to care for them,” said Zhang Kaiti, director of the China Research Center on Ageing. “Support from the government, communities and non-government organizations is very limited.”<\/p>\n
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