Aging in the Context of Urbanization: Social Determinants for the Depression of the Chinese Older Population

As China has undergone rapid urbanization and population aging in the past few decades, improving the welfare of older people in rural areas has become an ever more pressing issue. This title is the first book-length work to examine the influence of urbanization on the mental health of China’s older population outside the city.

Incorporating the theoretical framework of social ecology, the author analyzes the socio-cultural factors that have exerted an impact on participants’ mental health, such as their personal life course transition, changes to family living arrangements and community restructuring. Moreover, he introduces several elderly mental health intervention models in China, while evaluating the policy initiatives that have developed based on China’s local resource sufficiency, cultural customs, and older people’s needs. The research findings not only facilitate a deeper understanding of China’s welfare policy making, but also offers a useful reference for countries that are experiencing similar urbanization and population aging and that wish to formulate better social policies.

Students and scholars of social policy, welfare, and gerontology will find this title to be essential reading.

Fan Yang, associate professor at the School of International and Public Affairs, China Institute for Urban Governance, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. His research interests are mainly on social gerontology and social welfare policy.