by Li Lu, Director of the Social Governance Office, Institute of Social Development, National Development and Reform Commission
“We will pursue a proactive national strategy in response to population aging, develop elderly care programs and services, and provide better services for elderly people who live alone. By doing so, we can ensure that basic elderly care is accessible to the entire elderly population,” says the report to the 20th CPC National Congress.
The following conclusions can be drawn from relevant surveys and investigation: first, home-based care is still the main way of elderly care. Second, medical service is the first demand of the elderly. Third, the increasing demand of the elderly for elevators and home renovation will lead to more service consumption in urbanization, urban renewal and renovation of old residential communities in the future. Fourth, more and more elderly people have demand for intelligent products. Fifth, the needs of the elderly are getting more varied due to the differences in regional culture, family structure, education level and other factors.
There is an urgent need to strengthen service facilities and services around the elderly’s home environment. The catering industry and a large number of living services in residential communities are not directly targeting the elderly. Therefore, the common services for the elderly are still based on the core services such as living care and basic medical service, as well as assisted meals and meal delivery services for those elderly who have physical limitations. The expansion of all service circles is centered on the changing needs of the elderly. Surveys and investigation have found that the circle of services for the elderly is still centered on the home and the community. Research and surveys have revealed that the home and community remain at the core of elderly care services.
The healthcare services, which is in highest demand from the elderly, should cover the needs of different circles. The greatest demand remains in medical services, putting forward core requirements in terms of the layout of medical and health resources. First of all, the demand for primary health care for the elderly is still realized through community medical and health service centers and service sites. Is it possible for this to be accessed within 10-15 minutes’ walk? Second, can secondary health care organizations provide rapid response and meet the emergent health care needs of the elderly that occur at home? Should secondary hospitals be located according to the degree of population aging, especially the degree of population concentration as the core consideration variable? Third, can other chronic disease needs be met within 10-15 minutes’ travel? Criteria for urban health resource allocation based on population and population aging need to be incorporated into comprehensive urban health considerations as a next step.
The integration between elderly care institutions and functional facilities should be realized while considering both layout and function, which is quite necessary for elderly service organizations we are familiar with, such as senior apartments and senior communities. For example, in medical and nursing institutions, what is needed is to match the immediate needs of the elderly medical institutions, especially the combination between acute medical emergency and rehabilitation hospitals and other geriatric hospitals. For future layout of elderly institutions, especially the elderly community, there should be a certain number of geriatric hospitals with rehabilitation as the core, so as to meet the elderly’s basic medical needs. As for the healthy elderly who go in the time-sharing mode, the primary concerns are related to life convenience, comfort, and human-centered care. The ecological environment, accessibility to transportation, and other factors are all strongly related to the basic requirements of the elderly as determined by their individual needs. As a result, one factor to take into account is how various facilities are laid out to suit various purposes.
Published on November 23, 2023