A quest to make the twilight years a breeze

"Every person's privacy needs to be respected. But the staff member was oblivious to this. This is something that can be addressed through education and training," says Fan.

Another issue that needs to be tackled is the salaries caregivers receive. According to the Shanghai Think Tank Institute for the Aged, the median monthly wage of Shanghai's caregivers for the aged is between 5,000 and 6,000 yuan ($702.9-843.4). As such, only a fraction of the 3,000 people who graduate from elderly care courses every year choose to become caregivers for senior citizens. Most prefer to take jobs like hospital nurses which come with better pay and career prospects.

Improving the standards of elderly care has been one of the city's key objectives in recent years.

In 2014, the municipal government announced a series of policies to cope with aging issues and released guidelines aimed at accelerating the development of this industry. The government also pledged to establish a comprehensive aged-care service system by 2020, which would cover service supply, elder protection, policy support and the demand for evaluation and industry supervision.

In 2016, a specialized fund for caregivers was set up, with social institutions and companies donating some 5 million yuan to the cause. The fund was used to support the establishment of the elderly care major at the Shanghai Open University.