Take the elderly to play e-sports, shoot jokes, play ＂A sheep has a sheep＂, and the young man opens a ＂online celebrity Nursing Home＂

The old lady wears sunglasses to "play the disc", and several old people "dance" with the dynamic DJ; Mahjong was clacked on the table, but standing up to see the card was printed with chess cars and guns; The popular "sheep became a sheep" (a small game) was made into playing cards and cakes …

　

In the video of Fan Jinlin, a young man from Xuchang, Henan, the old people in nursing homes have changed. The old people here will shoot videos and play e-sports, and they will also talk about "Juejuezi (awesome)" and "emo (sad)".

　

Although only 25 years old, Fan Jinlin is the director of five nursing homes. There are 260 elderly people with an average age of over 80 living in his nursing home. He gained more than 2 million fans by shooting short daily videos of the elderly in nursing homes, and designed the "online celebrity Nursing Home".

　

During the trial operation, "online celebrity Nursing Home" gained people’s attention. It was not only free to stay here, but also built leisure venues such as e-sports room, cinema, painting and calligraphy room and pub. Fan Jinlin hopes to operate the "online celebrity Nursing Home" through the traffic incentive of the short video platform. He wants to tell people that old people are also very fashionable and love to play, and nursing homes can be full of vitality.

In September 2022, Fan Jinlin and the old people were rehearsing the dance. Photo courtesy of respondents

　

　

Fan Jinlin: In 2017, I majored in broadcasting and hosting at Henan University, and started to try to operate a Weibo account, which only attracted more than 10,000 fans’ attention a year. I think this industry is too "involuted" and I have the idea of cross-industry. That year, my grandmother fell and was hospitalized with a fracture. Because her parents were busy, she was often alone at home. Sitting in front of her bed, I came up with the idea of opening my own nursing home and letting grandma live comfortably in it. So when I was in college, I took the certificates of psychological counselor, nursing staff for the aged and ability appraiser for the elderly.

　

　

Fan Jinlin: My father became interested in the old-age care industry ten years ago. At that time, there was no experience to learn from, so he went to Taiwan Province and Hongkong to study and brought back the advanced concept of community old-age care. In 2017, he designed a nursing home, which is the first public private nursing home in Henan Province.

　

I followed my father as an intern during my junior and senior years, and I felt that this was not the nursing home in my heart. So in 2020, I designed a nursing home myself, focusing on modern minimalist style, and my grandmother became the first customer here. At the beginning of this year, we took over two public and private nursing homes and built a fifth nursing home.

　

　

Fan Jinlin: In July 2020, my father asked me to shoot a video for a nursing home. He felt that my major should be used. At first, I was a little "social phobia". Later, I filmed my daily work and my old girlfriends’ daily fights, and the fans responded well. I think we can keep trying, so that more people can see that nursing homes are no longer dull as before, and young people can live happily with "girlfriends" when they are old.

　

　

Fan Jinlin: The script is inspired by the daily life of the elderly. I will tell the old people about what they need to shoot. They improvise and have no fixed script. In order to capture the true feelings of the elderly, each shooting time is very short.

　

　

Fan Jinlin: Some old people feel that they are "on TV" and have a sense of accomplishment. Some old people will be jealous because they didn’t take pictures of themselves. I will take fake shots for the old people who didn’t take pictures to solve this problem. Sometimes they also have "idol baggage" and strongly demand a second shot. Another grandmother received a phone call from her granddaughter, whom she had not contacted for a long time. She said that she had seen an old man in a short video. The old lady is now "online celebrity". Old people and their children are naturally happier when they talk more.

Fan Jinlin’s video "What it’s like to live in a nursing home after 50 years". Video screenshot

　

　

Fan Jinlin: In the past few years of operation, something happened that impressed me deeply. There is an old man who only lives in a nursing home for two months every year. His children’s family is not rich. The old man has a pension card, and whoever takes care of it will get it. Once an old man fell and broke his bone at home, and it took more than two hours for his children to come home before they found out.

　

The old man cried to his roommates, employees and the dean. He once cried and said to me, "Can you take a video for me every time so that I can live in at a low price or for free?" I couldn’t bear to hear that, and suddenly I wondered if I could be a nursing home for free.

　

　

Fan Jinlin: I want to shoot grandparents’ videos or other public welfare videos every day, and rely on the traffic incentives of short video platforms to make a profit, so as to achieve the balance of payments in online celebrity nursing homes.

　

Fan Jinlin: We often "step on the pit" during the operation. For example, when decorating, the location and layout of disabled area, semi-self-care area, self-care area and restaurant should be designed well; The width of the toilet door is two fists wider than that of the wheelchair, so as to pass through; The height of the bed should ensure that when the old man sits up, his feet are not suspended and he directly steps on the ground. We will improve every time we build a new hospital.

　

Another problem is that the nursing team as a whole is too old, and there are many cases where nursing workers in their fifties and sixties take care of the elderly in their seventies and eighties. This is an industry problem. After years of hard work, we can only control the age of nursing staff at about 40 years old. But I think young blood is very important for the industry of providing for the aged.

　

As for the nursing home in online celebrity, I’m going to employ all young people born after 1995 to run it.

In September 2022, old people played e-sports in nursing homes. Photo courtesy of respondents

　

Fan Jinlin: Most people like to play cards and mahjong, so I will let them play in different ways, such as making "a sheep into a sheep" into playing cards, and making handsome chess players, officials, photographers, cars, horses, cannons and soldiers into mahjong.

　

There is a grandmother who likes Chinese painting. She goes to the university for the aged to learn to draw landscapes and flowers, and we will teach her to draw simple and lovely cartoon characters in the form of Chinese painting. She said, "I was told you can’t draw like this." I told her, "Grandma, what you like is the trend, and you don’t need to be restricted by others."

　

Some old people want to learn guitar, tea ceremony and make coffee, which can be arranged. I also designed a cinema, a painting and calligraphy room and a pub in the nursing home. If they want to drink, I can make a non-alcoholic drink.

　

　

Fan Jinlin: In my daily shooting, I found that the old people are curious about the popular games now. Many old people feel that they are not close to their grandchildren. After learning to play games, they can play pk with their grandchildren. Mobile games have small screens and are not easy to operate, so I taught them to play with computers. They learn quickly, and they can learn the basic operation of League of Legends in a week.

　

　

Fan Jinlin: I hope to run five nursing homes well, take good care of the old people and attract more young people to join the pension industry. If the publicity of online celebrity Nursing Home can awaken more people’s inner kindness and filial piety, and let them help the elderly who need help around them, even if they call their grandparents, I think it is very meaningful.

　

Beijing News reporter Guo Yimeng　 　

Editor Liu Qian proofreads Jia Ning.