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June 10, 2021

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City eyes senior-oriented network

By Echo Hu | 00:00 UTC+8 June 10, 2021 | Print Edition

The city is creating a comprehensive senior-oriented elderly service network, amid the growing aging trend and increasing demand for efficient, convenient and equitable senior-care services.

This was a main topic of discussion at yesterday’s Shanghai International Elderly Service Industry Summit 2021.

Themed the “New Development of the Elderly Service Industry,” the summit was hosted by the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau and Council for the Promotion of International Trade Shanghai.

A senior civil affairs official mapped out Shanghai’s senior-care development and future plans during the summit.

By the end of 2020, the city had registered 729 senior homes with about 161,000 beds.

“They relieved the pressure resulting from a shortage of senior-care beds and catered to seniors’ nursing demand,” said Zhu Qinhao, director of the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau.

At the end of 2020, the city had 320 community-based, comprehensive senior service centers, and 204 community-based nursing homes for the elderly providing short-term respite care services.

It also had 758 daycare nursing homes that provided services to 15,000 people every month, 6,223 activity centers and 1,232 community-based canteens for the elderly that served about 120,000 people on a monthly basis.

The city has 78 subdistricts and towns participating in a trial of friendly communities for seniors with cognitive disorders launched in 2019. Risk evaluation and early intervention are conducted in these locations, which have also introduced non-medical interventions such as brain-activation activities, music and art therapies based on seniors’ cognitive-disorder level and habits.

A total of 4,845 beds at senior homes include nursing functions for this group.

The city has distributed subsidies totaling 25.7 billion yuan (US$4 billion) to 4.27 million needy seniors since 2016.

Last year, 417,000 seniors participated in the city’s long-term nursing insurance program, 8 percent of the city’s registered senior population.

Shanghai has inked senior-care-service cooperation agreements with 26 cities, counties and districts in the Yangtze River Delta region.

Under the agreements, 57 senior-care service agencies in the region are offering “cross-city” services for senior citizens, as another 25,000 beds will be earmarked to accommodate seniors in the region this year.

“The city will provide high-quality senior care services to the elderly population and satisfy diversified demand,” said Zhu. “The priority is those with physical disabilities, cognitive disorders, and financial difficulties.”

At the end of 2020, Shanghai had 5.33 million people aged 60 and above, or 36.1 percent of permanent residents, up 3 percent from 2019.

Metro


 

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