China is now facing a serious problem of aging population. Some elder-care centers even don’t have enough beds to meet the huge demand. In Jiangsu Province, local authorities came up with an idea to solve this problem by providing the elder-care service at home.
At 11: 00 am, the nursing staff of the elder-care institution arrived at Xiao Honglian's home at Gulou District, Nanjing, to take blood pressure and do rehabilitation exercises for her. Last year, Xiao accidentally broke her leg and she is now recovering with the care of the nursing staff.
At the end of last year, Xiao applied for the home service for the elderly. Now she is able to be looked after under professional services of the elder-care center.
"I don’t have to leave my home.The center provides professional services at my home, I feel quite good."said by Xiao Honglian.
Xiao only needs to pay about 1000 yuan a month for the one-hour service each day.
"The cost comes from three sector: The government will subsidize one part, we as institutions will offer some discount and the rest comes from the customers."said by Mei Shufen, Director of Ruihan Elder-Care Center in Nanjing.
Nanjing has provided such services to 5,701 homes so far, which is equivalent to 50 medium-sized nursing homes. Among them, 73.3% are in the main urban area. In order to encourage home service to the elderly, the institutions participating in the service can enjoy comprehensive subsidies.
At present, Jiangsu has launched the pilot trials of family nursing service in Nanjing, Wuxi, Xuzhou, Suzhou and Nantong, providing service to 7,200 beds. Now, the national standard of the family service is also being made.
"Currently there is no national standard for the service. Nanjing has been exploring the standard since 2016.Now the Civil Affairs Ministry is commissioning us to work out the standard, It will be released within 2021."said by Zhou Xinhua, Director of the Office of Elder-Care, Nanjing Municipal Bureau of Civil Affairs.
