Wellbeing in Later Life: Experiences of Oldest-old People Ageing in Place (居家养老) in Shanghai

Ageing in place has become a primary policy instrument around the world to tackle the challenges associated with ageing societies, including in China. Much research emphasises the societal benefits of ageing in place with reference to its cost efficiencies. While there is an emerging literature employing a person-centred approach and paying increasing attention to older people’s wellbeing, this research still centres on the identification and theorisation of determinants of wellbeing. This study adopts a broader wellbeing approach and extends the new emphasis on the wellbeing of the oldest-old people ageing at home to the Chinese context. Applying an integrated conceptual framework, combining a relational understanding of wellbeing, theory of place and a life course perspective, the study aims to explore the experiences and meanings of wellbeing for and by older people themselves. The empirical focus of the research is a case study of two communities in Shanghai, where I conducted 6-months of fieldwork between 2015 and 2016 using qualitative research methods, including in-depth interviews, focus groups, observations and documentary analysis. The study finds that, while the new policy emphasis on ageing in place aligns with older people’s own preferences of attaining wellbeing in later life, the idea of wellbeing involves a complex set of social dynamics and shows both individual diversity and common character among the older people studied. The meanings of wellbeing for and by the older people studied reflected the multifaceted nature of wellbeing, the linked nature of human life and the great influence of historical times, earlier life events and the place in which they live. The study offers one of the first attempts to apply an integrated wellbeing framework when analysing wellbeing in old age and represents one of few empirical studies on Chinese older people’s later life. As such, it contributes to the wider literature and enriches our understanding of ageing and wellbeing, both theoretically and empirically.