| Summary: | 碩士 === 南華大學 === 生死學研究所 === 94 === This research originates from the elderly care model of the Bodhi Evergreen Village set up in Puli after the 921 Earthquake. Residents moved in this community free of charge. They help each other, divide labor in a cooperative manner and participate in productive works. When the Village was set up in 2000, the average age of the residents was 75. Six years later, most of them are over 80. Some of them keep working. The community still provides care to its residents free of charge. This research is based on the mentioned community, tries to interpret its operational model, elders'' adaptation to move late in life, and the meaning of continuing work for elders in order to answer two questions: 1. How to build an operational model for an independent, autonomous and cooperative senior community? 2. How the community elders evaluate and what they feel about participating in productive works.
To achieve this goal, the research has collected elder-related psychological and social theories, analyzed domestic as well as international models of the development of senior care communities and examples of elder care, conducted a long-term observation and interviews towards the Bodhi Evergreen Village, and by so means studied its community environment, daily disciplines, how its residents feel about trading work for a communal living style, the interaction between the society and the community and the operational model and management method inside the community.
In order to analyze the environment, the operational model and the residents'' inner feelings of the Bodhi Evergreen Village systematically and make a comparison with pre-existed gerontology theories and community systems, the researcher discovered that by applying Ken Wilber’s "AQAL" philosophy to structure the thesis around four categories: (1) Quadrant "Its" Exterior-Collective (Social), (2) Quadrant "We" Interior-Collective (Cultural), (3) Quadrant "It" Exterior-Individual (Behavioral), and (4) Quadrant "I" Interior-Individual (Intentional) can actually integrate, induce and analyze the above-mentioned complicated issue in a systematic manner.
The researchers discovered that within the operation of the Bodhi Evergreen Village, the residents have gained satisfaction in regards to financial independence, security, daily life, emotions and a sense of self-accomplishment. The Village is compatible with several social gerontology theories and the ideas of "aging in place", "care by the community" and "sheltered housing / assisted living" promoted by the government in terms of caring ideas, environment and facilities, and the practice of life management. Concerning the issue of nursing elders, policies should give priority attention to those whose family is unable to support them and set up a independent environment to alleviate the family and the society''s burden.
Apart from establishing an industry model for a mutual help senior community, the Bodhi Evergreen Village has revealed the values of promoting community awareness among migrating seniors and offering its residents an autonomous and independent environment. The Village has given the elders a sense of being useful, which is helpful for improving nursing quality.
Limited by the research scope, the research wishes to explore the possibilities for "establishing a independent senior community" and lay foundations for further studies and applications in the future.
|
|---|
