Policy reconstruction of elderly spouse caregivers from the perspectives of the theory"produc-tive engagement in later life" / 中国卫生政策研究

ABSTRACT

As one of the core contents of the theory"productive engagement in later life",elderly taking care of family members has created tremendous economic and social values. Family caregiving behavior being widely exis-ted in the Chinese society and stretches for thousands of years, still needs to be interpreted from a completely new theory framework in a contemporary ageing society. As one of the most important theories in Social Gerontology,there is already a consensus reached in western society about the value recognition of family caregiving,but in China's con-text,is still however in the twilight zone. This paper begins with a comprehensive review and analysis of the nega-tive impact of family care on the economic burden and physical and mental health impairments among the elderly caregivers, and then introduces the world-wide development of the"productive engagement in later life"theories and practices which recognize and evaluate the social value of the elderly, a framework for rearranging the social support system for the elderly caregivers and the promotion of the sense of the self-development of the elderly based on gender perspectives, with a view it will also greatly restore the identities and socialization of older peo-ple by putting forward several public policies based on the above theoretical framework and the reduction of the elderly subjectivity and sociality.