Research On Elderly Spiritual Benefit Welfare Service In The View Of "Positive Aging"

In the year of2011, the number of China’s elder population has reached185million, which accounts13.26%of the world’s whole population. The above statistic shows that China has stepped into the age when it has the world largest elderly population. In order to coping with the aging challenge, in recent years, the country is increasingly focusing on the elder’s social security issue. The retirees’basic old-age pensions are on the increase, the city and new-type Endowment insurances are gradually spreading, and social elder service system is being setting up. While securing the basic material life need, the family function that provide spiritual comfort for the old is gradually weakening under the exposure of the change of life environment, the trend of core family development, the diversification of social values and so on. Although it has just started setting up the social service system for its old people, the system is far from meeting their needs of spiritual comfort. We can conclude that the elder’s spiritual health issue is getting more serious. Spiritual health plays a very important role in improving the elder’s life quality, the decreasing of social pension and promoting intergenerational harmony. The elder’s spiritual health issue is increasingly becoming the social problem which is in bad need of wide public attention and practical solution.The author of the paper chooses50communities in5cities:Nanjing, Changzhou, Wuxi, Yangzhou and Zhenjiang in Jiangsu province for sample,-and selects the old over60years and community service workers as the investigate objects. The researcher mainly uses such scientific methods as questionnaire research, case interview and document research. The practical survey consists of2phases:the first phase is to send2000questionnaires to the elder:the second is to interview over30community social workers. On the above basis, we analyze the performances and the needs meeting situation of the current elder’s spiritual requirements. Meanwhile, through professional measuring tools and correct theories and methods, we interpret the micro and macro reasons which lead to the elder’s spiritual health, and finally exploring the effective means of serving and meeting the elder’s spiritual needs.The survey finds by numerous practices and demonstrations that the civil elder’s spiritual needs are multiple, especially in the aspects of emotion, entertainment, interpersonal communication and self realization, which have however not been met well. Loneliness, depression and inquietude are the apparent spiritual health problems of the elderly at the present time. The causes of these issues are from both society and the individual, which are as follows, the inevitable discipline of the transformation to the modern society and the comparatively hysteresis of the elder’s service system establishment are the social cause of these issues, while the aspects of individual physics, income, cultural quality, interests, the attention to the current civil affairs and social support are the important individual causes that lead to some spiritual problems. There are many problems in serving the elder’s spiritual health:the incorrect understanding, lack of resources, social anticipation, the professionals and professional methods. The elder’s problem is a new social issue, we must make full use of all constructive aspects of government, society, family, and the elder according to the international consensus of active aging. Under the circumstances, we need to improve the social administration, which include the establishment of the spiritual comfort service system for the elderly. The service pattern will become a positive and practical service path for the elder’s spiritual comfort considering that it embodies the newest conceptions, professional services, and is mainly managed by the government with the collaboration of residential communities and the whole society...