“Collaboration as regards to the welfare and education of the elderly” refers to the introduction of educational facilities into nursing homes for the elderly, with the collaboration of both education and welfare bureaus. However, there is no clear division of work between the two. To clarify the actual situation in terms of collaboration between bureaus, it is necessary to investigate both public and private nursing homes due to their different ways of operation. Thus, this paper aims to clarify the situation and issues arising in terms of collaboration between bureaus by researching both public and private nursing homes in Shanghai. Furthermore, the importance of providing learning opportunities for elderly people who need care will be investigated.

  Through analyzing public and private nursing homes in Shanghai, it can be clarified that both have different routes for introducing “collaboration as regards to the welfare and education of the elderly”, with the reduced involvement of the welfare agency being a primary contributing factor. Even so, both types of nursing homes realized the benefits of providing learning activities to elderly people needing high-level of care. Developing appropriate learning content for participants is the most up-to-date issue identified by this paper. To solve this issue, a new style of collaboration between education and welfare bureaus is needed for future educational gerontology in China.