A group of psychological experts in Shanghai's Zhabei District is offering consulting services and lifestyle classes to elderly residents of this rapidly aging city to help them cope with the struggles of old age.

Most of the group's members belong to the district's chapter of the Shanghai Committee of the China Association for Promoting Democracy (CAPD) .

Qin Qigeng, a psychologist and one of the group's founders, said China faces a number of challenges associated with its aging population.

To address the situation, Qin has teamed up with other psychologists to provide free lifestyle classes to senior residents, especially widows and widowers who live alone, to help them cope with the demands of daily life.

The group is also working with local officials to offer more psychological consultancy services in other districts.

Shanghai is one of China's most rapidly aging cities. The Shanghai Population and Family Planning Committee has estimated that people aged 60 and above will account for about a third of the city's population by 2020.

Zhabei District has the largest share of seniors who live alone. More than 710,000 senior citizens live separately from their children in Shanghai. More than 170,000 of them are single and live alone. In the district's Baoshan neighborhood, single seniors who live alone account for 28 percent of the population.

Qin and several other members of his group first started working with members of this demographic back in 2004.

Qin said he was inspired to start offering consultancy services to the elderly by a case in which a retired senior official tried to kill himself.

The official was introverted and diligent in his professional life and found it difficult to adjust to being retired. Unable to share his feelings with his wife and children, he eventually attempted suicide.

Qin intervened and offered the man psychological treatment, and he quickly recovered. The man was so pleased that he urged Qin to offer his psychological consultancy services to some of his friends.

Convinced of the value of getting seniors out of their rooms to interact with other people, Qin started arranging life classes for the elderly.

"In addition to providing opportunities for the seniors to communicate more with each other, we find it very helpful to take some time to listen to their stories," said Chen Mo, another psychologist who works with the group.

An elderly woman who was very beautiful and rich in her youth suffered loneliness and anguish over her faded appearance. "Having someone to talk to about her golden days soothed her," Chen said.

Qin's group have urged the public to pay more attention to the elderly, particularly since the group conducted a survey in Zhabei District, showing that local seniors valued filial piety most and longed for their children's company.

(China Daily January 11, 2007)