What can be done to prevent old people from being abandoned in the countryside? Throughout the world, rural senior citizens are vulnerable without family support and resources that allow them to live with dignity. Some countries have addressed this problem by creating family responsibility legislation, designed to make younger family members provide support to old people.

These laws differ on the strength of the imposed obligation, the extent to which relatives are obliged to provide support and the required level of support. But such legislation has rarely been enforced, suggesting that it exceeds the will of governments to impose public sanction on families' private matters. Furthermore, given families reduced capacity to support older adults, such legislation risks being ineffective at best and destructive to families at worst.

In contrast, public programs in the form of income security and access to health services are powerful tools to support old people in rural areas and reduce the strain on families. Universal pensions available in many developed nations have helped old people to emerge out of poverty, giving them the means to provide for their basic necessities. Access to healthcare in rural communities and to long-term care services have been instrumental in reducing vulnerability resulting from chronic illnesses associated with old age. For developing countries, such universal programs are still in the future. Yet the principles of ensuring dignity without enforcing dependence are worthy of implementation to the fullest extent possible.

International strategies on aging are important tools, too, to support vulnerable groups such as rural senior citizens, the International Plan of Action on Ageing (IPAA) being the most comprehensive. It was developed by governments around the world who met at the Second World Assembly on Ageing in 2002. Its aim is to encourage governments to ensure that people everywhere are able to age with security and dignity.

Two principles of the IPAA are particularly relevant to improving the lives of old people in rural China. The first is to include the empowerment of old people to overcome poverty through mainstreaming aging issues in national poverty-eradication strategies and development plans. Reducing poverty is a key element of helping senior citizens remain connected to their families and communities. The second is to create conditions that enable families and communities to provide care and protection to people as they age. Strong family ties are eroded when the exigencies of life force difficult choices.

The world looks to China as a country where old people are valued highly. Much could be done to ensure that those in rural areas are treated like the great assets they are. It is important to remember that today's young adults are tomorrow's old people. Supporting older adults helps build a society for all ages.

The author is chair of the North American Region of the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics, and editor of Rural Aging: Good Place to Grow Old?