Modern Nursing Home
According to people’s traditional concepts, people should grow old or even die in their own homes. Serge Gran, an expert on social aging, said: "For a long time, the elderly have only had two choices: stay at home or live in a nursing home with medical equipment (maison de retraite m?dicalis?e). There is no other choice." However, retirement homes like Ehpad, which receive government financial subsidies and are specially equipped to serve the elderly, are actually unable to meet the needs of French society. ?Because, despite public subsidies, the average monthly fee for a nursing home in Ehpad is still 2,200 euros, or even higher. After most people retire, the average retirement fee is 1,000 euros (for women) to 1,300 euros (for men), which is difficult for retirees with middle income levels to afford. This situation has been unanimously warned by sociologists because it objectively aggravates social fault lines, and those with the worst economic conditions can only be excluded and must find a new way out. The direction of efforts proposed by Roland Darino, a professor at the University of Tours Rabelais, in his collection "Vieillir chez soi, les nouvelles forms du maintien domicile" (Vieillir chez soi, les nouvelles forms du maintien ?domicile), which he led me, is not It's a new way of thinking.
In March 2015, the Senate passed a draft law at the first instance, allocating a budget of 40 million euros to encourage individuals to cooperate with collectives and support actions aimed at promoting the construction of aging-friendly residences. In some places existing houses were renovated and renovated, in others ?les B?guinages? were created that soon became fashionable. This type of residence originated in Belgium and northern France in the Middle Ages. It was built around the church and was a small house dedicated to nuns, connected by longitudinal passages. Modern nursing homes built in this form, of course, have nothing to do with religion, but they retain the concept of semi-collective living. They are mostly found in rural nursing homes such as Marpa, and the number of people admitted in each place is limited to 24 people. 89-year-old Yifeng and 92-year-old Simona were originally peasant women. Now they each live in a 35-square-meter single-room apartment and pay 1,260 euros a month. They have someone to take care of their lives. They often do handwork in the knitting workshop, learn gymnastics, and can also follow Interactive games for school children to spend their old age contentedly.
Intergenerational residential areas
For a century, Americans have been keen to build closed residential areas where seniors of the same generation can live safely, called Sun City. , excluding outside intervention, even if relatives can enter, there are strict restrictions. The French do not like this kind of life, and what is widely encouraged is the construction of "intergenerational residences" (l?habital interg?n?rationnel). In a building or a residential area, residents of different ages are arranged to activate the atmosphere and interact with each other and solve their spiritual needs. Saint-Appolinaire, located in the 21st department, is a typical intergenerational village. When allocating housing, all factors are taken into consideration: married households, single residents, the elderly, young adults, families with children, and people living alone.
In the residential area, each family has private housing, as well as an auditorium for public use, a student canteen, a day nursery, a service department for the elderly, and a clinic for Parkinson's patients. In short, all organizational work and services, such as housekeeping (childcare, housekeeping, shopping?) and daily community services (green space renovation, mail delivery, house maintenance?), are all dedicated to the convenience of residents and encourage all residents to become a collective As a member of the community, we create an atmosphere of mutual help and friendship in a different living environment. Similar "mutual aid" housing sites have been established in Vitry sur Seine in the 94th department.
It is undeniable that such a complex and diverse population combination is extremely difficult to live in harmony, and friendly ties cannot be formed naturally. To this end, every new household who intends to move in must sign a "good neighbor contract" (la charte "Bonjour Voisin"), pledging to abide by moral values ??and do their best to ensure that everyone can live in a healthy and happy environment. ?Intergenerational villages? There are also professionals responsible for daily management, always paying attention to maintaining collective peace and interests.
Elderly people host college students
The intergenerational living model is very popular in Spain and has been introduced to France, but it has not become mainstream yet. However, the cooperation between the elderly and college students is very popular. The housing demand of young students is much higher than that of the older generation, so that supply exceeds demand. It is common for college students or young workers to live in an elderly person's house, paying a low rent, or doing odd housework in exchange for living completely free. The elderly who rent out their houses use this to relieve their loneliness or gain some sense of security.
In fact, this type of boarding house has existed in Paris for a long time. Most of the residents are young girls, so it is called "jeune fille au pair". Those who work with meals or nominal remuneration are called "travailler au pair". ?, some civil society associations in the city will serve as a bridge between the two parties to implement the relationship between *** and common life.
Under normal circumstances, young people looking for cheap or free accommodation must have a formal identity, contact the association through an intermediary, and sign a contract with the elderly to determine the rules of life and the obligations of both parties.
On a theoretical level, this reciprocal form of “the best of both worlds” is not without its difficulties in implementation. Generally speaking, there are too many applicants and the relevant associations cannot satisfy them. Some elderly people are wary of letting strangers into their homes due to the turmoil in today's society. They are worried that they will be harmed instead of helping others, which is also one of the reasons for the limited housing supply.
In addition. The generation gap is always a reality. It is not easy to establish a harmonious relationship. If we do not get along well, young people will often end up being eliminated.
Shared residences
Some individuals who have lost their normal family environment, out of helplessness or inspiration, find someone to share their residence with, and gradually form a limited number of shared residences. Housing?(l?habitat partag?) group. Somewhere in Germany, there were two old women who had been dating for a long time. After being widowed for many years, they finally decided to move to a different place to live together. This has become a legend. Based on the same concept, some Nordic countries also have Co-logis des A.n?s (Co-logis des A.n?s). There are also some old people who watched the movie "Why don't we live together?" (Et si on vivait tous ensemble?) and followed this model to find a few like-minded friends and seek a common life.
There are many elderly people who yearn for human kindness in their old age. An elderly residential area named "Boboyaka" appeared in the town of Begler in the 33rd province. In Villeneuve-Ascq in the 59th province, people built "les Toitmoinous" residential area and proposed that "we want to grow old together!" ? slogan.
The name of ?les Toitmoinous? consists of three parts: ?toit? (roof), ?moi? (me) and ?nous? (us). It has a profound meaning. As the name suggests, it praises the social atmosphere where harmony and harmony exist. Opposing the American-style "sun village" concept that excludes the elderly and the disabled, the humane housing model is gaining more and more people's attention.
However, French experts are not optimistic about this model. They believe that only people who have the same experience and have close contact with each other for many years can live together. The solitary personality of the French people is deeply ingrained and difficult to promote. Despite this, living alone is not an option for the elderly. In order to avoid being sent to nursing homes, some people, inspired by the new real estate company La start-up Senior Cottage, try to rent or buy small cottages built near their relatives' residences. Bungalow. These houses are more than 20 square meters and have complete living facilities, which can guarantee the basic comfort conditions of life and even have Internet devices. For some people, it is better than entering a nursing home.
Autonomous housing model
More and more people of different generations accept the same values ??and apply them to solve housing models. Autonomous residences are the most innovative form of independent residence and are still in their infancy. Based on the same values ??or certain needs, people advocate the concepts of friendship, social integration and ecological environmental protection, and actively organize into a group to spend their twilight years together. A group of elderly women established "Babayagas" (Babayagas) in the city of Monteuil in the 93rd department of France, which aroused the interest of many places to follow suit, especially attracting many people during the baby boom period in France in the 1950s and 1960s. The birth generation (les baby-boomers). Most of them are in their sixties and still have many years to live after retirement. They hope to live a "sunset red" good years.
Michel Sponi, a Bordeaux resident who participated in formulating the construction plan for the "autonomous residence" (l?habitat autog?r?), said: "Everything starts from thinking about the phenomenon of aging." Everyone is saying that a solution should be found to prevent the elderly from ending up in nursing homes. We don’t want to be a burden to our children, but we want to stay in a home where we feel comfortable and comfortable, and we don’t want to live alone. The idea of ??"autonomous residences" emerged as a challenge. We hope to autonomously build and manage this future "home" in the form of a cooperative. It will definitely stimulate every elderly participant to make their best efforts, help maintain personal independence, and strive to experience the joy of life for as long as possible.
As mentioned above, the "Grandma House" built by the city of Monteuil for elderly women should be a pioneering work worthy of being recorded in social history, because it is the only independent successful example in France so far. Although it was built The process was very bumpy, but in the end it was successful.
Les Toitmoinous, founded by an elderly people’s association in Villeneuve-d’Ascq, 59th province, also falls into the same category. The association has been working for many years to complete a project for the construction of autonomous housing. Regis Valle, chairman of the association, sighed: "Let the elderly live in peace in their old age and live in a truly harmonious intergenerational environment. The road to achieve is long and difficult, and it is not easy! Real estate is decreasing day by day, and prices are getting higher and higher." Local collectives, social leasing operators and developers are all coveting the areas that can still be developed. The dreams of a group of Michel Sponi's friends have encountered setbacks over the years. He said that in addition to the difficulty of site selection, raising funds is the key to implementing the plan, not to mention that France's administrative procedures are extremely complicated. , there are countless rules, restrictions and procedures, and there are many examples of the good intentions of certain social groups turning into unattainable utopias.