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Technology shines a light in a gray area
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CHINA is the world’s first country to have an elderly population exceeding 200 million. That means the number of senior citizens here is greater than the entire population of Russia or Japan and is four times more than the population of Spain.
If the number is staggering, so is the challenge of caring for retirees who need special healthcare services, social assistance and suitable housing in a nation where the old system of three generations under one roof is breaking down.
The recent 2015 Summer Summit on Senior Citizens Welfare in China looked at the “gray area” of public policy and at how the digital revolution may offer some solutions.
“A country’s aging problem is like a silent revolution that has a profound impact on the economy, politics and culture,” Du Peng, deputy director of the China Population and Development Research Center, told last week’s summit in Shanghai.
The Internet and artificial intelligence may offer the prospect of personalized, high-efficiency nursing and social services for the elderly, according to the summit organized by the China Welfare Institute.
China estimates that its aging population will reach 260 million by 2020, with those 80 years and older expanding by 1 million a year. The medical care, housing and pension systems are already feeling the pressure.
China’s 2014 Report on the Aging Population revealed the nation had 42,475 nursing homes with about 5 million beds, which means about 24 beds for every 1,000 elderly people.
More than 40 percent of privately run institutions for the elderly were running at a deficit.
The situation in Shanghai is no rosier. By the end of last year, the city had more than 4 million people aged 60 and over. The Shanghai Research Center of Aging estimates that such population will hit 5 million by 2018 and 5.4 million by 2020. The over-80 segment is expanding by 8,200 people every year.
Shanghai has about 660 nursing homes with 114,900 beds. Last year, the number increased by 6 percent.
To cope, Shanghai is forging ahead on its so-called “9073” plan. It calls for 90 percent of seniors to be able to stay in their own homes, assisted by support services like meal deliveries and visiting nurses and housekeepers. Under the goal, 7 percent of seniors would be cared for in community nursing centers, and the remaining 3 percent would go into professional institutions with 24-hour care.
“The 9073 plan is proceeding in its initial stages,” said Gao Julan, an official from the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau. “By 2020, Shanghai will have a comprehensive nursing care system with government support, social services and third-party monitoring.”
So where does new technology come into play?
Well, for now, in small but promising applications. The China Welfare Institute Rest Home, for example, has equipped some of its senior residents with smart watches that monitor heart rates and other vital signs around the clock and send the data to the home’s medical care center. At a glance, doctors can assess current physical conditions. If any index registers abnormal numbers, the system sounds an alarm.
Digital watches can also work as menus. An elderly resident only needs to tap the watch face to order something to eat.
China Potevio, a technology manufacturer, displayed its newly developed mattress at the summit. It is embedded with sensors that can monitor vital signs while a person sleeps.
“Between 2am and 5am is the time when older people are more likely to suffer sleep apnea or cardiac arrest,” said Hu Wei, an engineer with the company. “This mattress could supplement nightly doctor rounds.”
In addition, the mattress can also act as an alarm to remind nursing staff to turn bedridden people over so they don’t develop bedsores.
“Artificial intelligence equipment can cut labor costs and greatly improve work efficiency,” Hu said.
Vanke Group, one of the country’s biggest real estate developers, has been focusing on construction of retirement facilities, including care centers in established neighborhoods.
“We want to build nursing homes without walls,” said Xu Qingchuan, Shanghai Vanke’s deputy general manager. “In many cases, older people can receive professional nursing services while still living in the same neighborhood with their children, who are only a short walk away.”
Vanke wants to employ robots to handle some of the work at these facilities, doing simple functions like showing older people the way, helping them out of bed or serving as a walking stick.
“One of the biggest reasons we are looking at robots is that fewer people want to work in the elderly care industry,” Xu said at the summit. “I think robot applications will see rapid growth in the next three to five years. It’s the trend of the future.”
It’s easy to marvel at all the high-tech gadgetry, but can machines make people happy?
“Experts analysis, government strategy and enterprise investment are all fine and well. We need them all, of course,” said Mu Yufang, 60, a retired teacher. “But I think what old people need most is not complicated computer things, but real people who can talk to us and understand us.”
That view was echoed by the China Population and Development Research Center’s Du.
“All in all, it’s not important how much money the government or property developers spend,” he said. “The most important thing is whether seniors are satisfied with the services and whether they enjoy their lives.”
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