‘Self-reliance first, children's care-giving second’: older adults' experience and conceptualisation of ageing-in-place in rural China

Abstract

Abstract Ageing-in-place has become an internationally favoured policy and practice response to population ageing. However, limited literature has sought to understand this concept from Chinese older adults' perspectives, especially in rural China. The purpose of this study is to explore how older adults in rural China conceptualise ageing-in-place. This study took a qualitative approach by carrying out in-depth interviews with snowball-sampled older adults from a rural village in Shandong Province, China (N = 30). Participants conceptualised their ageing-in-place as consisting of two phases: first, when they felt self-reliant, these older adults preferred to live independently in the village; and second, when their capability declined, they would expect care-giving from their children. Autonomy was essential to participants' decision to age in place. The village offered both a physical and social environment in which participants could sustain their self-identity. This decision to age in place independently also related to participants' proactive adaptation to their children's evolving practices of filial piety. Still, had their capabilities declined, they reported they would expect their children's care-giving and move in with their children. Our findings suggest that older adults in rural China conceptualise ageing-in-place as a dynamic process that evolves as they age and experience changes in their needs and capabilities. This perception expands critical notions of ageing-in-place by highlighting rural older adults' flexible conceptualisation of the ‘place’ in which they plan to age. This study sheds light on socioculturally nuanced understandings of ageing-in-place while providing evidence to inform tailored policy and practice development in rural China.