Peking University, Sept. 16, 2017: On September 12, 2017, the Second Peking University Doctoral Forum on Elderly Health was convened jointly by the PKU Graduate School, the PKU Institute of Population Studies, the PKU Institute of Elderly Studies, the PKU APEC Institute of Health Studies, and the PKU School of Nursing. Present was also more than eighty experts and students from multiple institutions including Waseda University, Taiwan University, Renmin University of China.
The forum this year focused on the subjects of technology, service, and insurance, aiming to orient the doctoral candidates to conduct their studies with respect to pressing issues under current social circumstances. Interdisciplinary studies were encouraged in the hope that achievements of theoretical and empirical value could be produced by candidates with great innovative caliber.
Group picture of the attendees
Professor Zheng Xiaoying, academician of the Third World Academy of Sciences and director of the PKU Institute of Population Studies, delivered the opening speech. She made a brief introduction to the status quo of the aging population in China and the importance of social support and insurance, with special emphasis on the contributions that Peking University has made regarding studies of aging problems. She expressed her hopes that all the attendees would find the forum rewarding and that experts from different parts of the world could foster continuous academic collaborations in this field.
Professor Zheng delivering her speech
Dr. Guo Jia from the PKU school of Nursing welcomed the participants, and appealed to the academic world to pay special attention to the distinction between the aging of normal physical degeneration and the aging of heterogeneity, and to cast off stereotypical conceptions of the elderly. A more affable society was called for, with advances in nursing technology and service. She also expressed her gratitude for this platform of communication and progression.
Dr. Guo Jia
Professor Uemura Naoshi from Wadesa University made an analytical speech of the major issues in the healthcare system in Japan with respect to the aging population, and Professor Liu Nan from the PKU Institute of Population Studies commented on the productivity of the aging population and the empirical significance of the idea.
Professor Uemura Naoshi
Students from the various institutions presented their studies and perspectives, on which the experts gave attentive appraisals . The topics of the presentations range from long-term nursing to social immigration and health improvement. Outstanding presentations and academic posters were selected and awarded.
The aging of populations is an international hot topic, and China is facing a rapid growth of the elder demographic rate. We are now confronted with this particular challenge and a new perspective must be adopted. Peking University Graduate School is dedicated to the communication of academic ideas, and managed to hold the first forum on elderly health studies in 2016, which was well-received at home and abroad. The institute is working in close cooperation with the World Health Organization and the World Bank, and has established a high-standard international network. This forum is intended to inspire progress and contribute to the development of elderly health studies across the world .
Written by: Ma Xiao
Edited by: Fu Wenyun, Karen Xu
