Elderly to get 50 new care centers
Print Edition
THE Shanghai government plans to open a further 50 small-scale, community-based care centers for the elderly in 2016, following the success of 22 such facilities launched earlier this year.
Different from long-stay residential homes, the aim of the centers is to provide senior citizens, especially those living alone or on low incomes, with a range of medical and general support services they can call on as required.
For instance, a pensioner might choose to visit his or her local center for lunch or simply to pass the time of day with other day visitors, officials told a press conference yesterday.
In other cases, the centers can provide short-term respite for seniors who fall sick, but have no friends or family to help them on, they said.
While there are charges for the services provided, they are regulated by the government to ensure they are affordable.
The cost of a lunch, for example, is just 10 yuan (US$1.50).
One of the main advantages of the new centers is that they are based within communities and reflect the needs of local people for ad hoc care services, Shanghai Vice Mayor Shi Guanghui told the press conference.
By definition they are also convenient, he said, adding that several of the 22 that have opened this year were formerly derelict buildings within local neighborhoods.
While the scheme is administered by the city government, the private sector is encouraged to get involved, Shi said.
He did not elaborate, but according to a notice issued recently by the civil affairs and finance bureau, private firms will be paid a subsidy of 10,000 yuan — taken from the welfare lottery fund — for every bed they provide, and get preferential rates for utilities.
To qualify for the scheme, the centers should provide between 10 and 49 beds. While they are not intended for use by long-term residents, there are as yet no formal rules on the maximum length of a short stay.
Should a person want or need to stay for an extended period, they will be charged up to 3,000 yuan a month, depending on the care package selected.
Dai Min, an official involved with the scheme in the Weifang neighborhood of the Pudong New Area, said the centers operate as a kind of halfway house between drop-in facilities and residential care homes.
“We help seniors when they need it, but they are not encouraged to stay here permanently,” he said.
That said, the facility in Weifang has 40 beds and they are regularly fully occupied, Dai said.
Most of the centers also offer a walk-in medical service, with doctors and nurses on hand two or three times a week.
As of the end of last year, Shanghai had 660 registered nursing homes with 114,907 beds, of just one for every 35 people aged 60 or over. The number of senior citizens living in the city rose 7 percent last year to more than 4.1 million, or nearly 30 percent of the total.
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