Lillian Prueher

This project examines how “Western” eldercare models are entering and transforming within the Chinese medical landscape. Specifically, it considers how demographic shifts, a weakened “post-Socialist” welfare system, and rapid economic development and internationalization collectively shape eldercare approaches. Through two years of ethnographic fieldwork – interviews and participant observation at three sites in Chengdu – this research considers how the perspectives of elderly patients, families and professional caregivers influence one another, care practices and institutional norms. This work relates to (1)the relationship between individuals, society and the state, (2)cross-cultural institutional adaptation, and (3)social transformations of value systems and concepts of personhood.