Institutional and Cultural Aspects of Care for Rural Elderly in Vietnam

Traditional norms that children should take care of their elderly parents in Asian societies, including Vietnam, indicate children as the ones responsible for taking care of their parents after they reach old age. It should be emphasized that this responsibility often falls on women, who are now increasingly emigrating from rural areas and taking up paid work, which makes them increasingly withdraw from the role of carers for their parents. In cooperation with social organizations and institutions dealing with this problem, the Vietnamese authorities are developing a system of care for seniors in their place of residence and are taking care of the development of the commercial market for such services, but it is the local community that still plays a key role in emotional support for seniors. Considering the traditional family structure based on Confucian philosophy, the responsibility for caring for the elderly is still the family's responsibility. Using data from a survey of 307 seniors in 2017, the author of the article analyzes the role of the family in caring for seniors, the challenges and difficulties they face, and the role of local, state and private institutions offering care for seniors, as well as policies in this area and existing systemic gaps, methods and means of care, the links between policy and institutions, and the need for harmonious cooperation of many institutions and entities in order to comprehensively meet the needs of the elderly (the so-called care diamond). The author also draws attention to the problem of the increasing abandonment of seniors in rural areas and indicates various attempts to maintain Asian cultural values, family ties, and emphasizes the continuous development of senior policy aimed at developing a more comprehensive model of care for the elderly.