Building an inclusive elderly care system

The National Development and Reform Commission and some other ministries jointly issued a notice recently to address the problems faced in the provision of elderly care services, namely poor coverage, high costs and uneven quality.

Domestic elderly care resources are generally in short supply while in the absence of relevant regulation, the quality of service provided falls short of people's expectation. With affordable and quality home and community care resources being scarce, a significant number of beds in institutional care facilities remain vacant.

The notice aims to resolve these problems by expanding the coverage of inclusive elderly care services through a collaboration mechanism involving the government, enterprises, families and society, besides employing technology to ensure more elderly people benefit from the services.

It aims to promote the construction of inclusive elderly care facilities based on existing assets such as training and recuperation institutions, unused property and schools, encouraging the upgrading of existing elderly care homes and vacant school buildings in rural areas.

The notice also stresses the importance of establishing a sound pricing mechanism for service institutions that accord with the law of the market.

For these measures to be implemented, certain principles need to be followed. The first principle is to clearly define the functional boundaries between the government and the market. The government should formulate local regulations for inclusive elderly care services based on local realities; and dynamically monitor institutional qualifications, fee transparency, and facility safety. Enterprises should optimize resource allocation efficiency through chain and group operations, activate the silver economy industry chain, and reduce the operational costs of elderly care services.

While State-owned enterprises are expected to play a leading role in providing the services, operating the facilities, and cultivating talents, private enterprises need to expand operations, especially take roots in rural areas where elderly care resources are needed.

It's necessary to promote the application of new technology in the elderly care sector. Enterprises need further support in developing low-cost, easy-to-use age-friendly smart wearable devices to reduce the burden on family and community care and improve the efficiency of elderly care services.

21ST CENTURY BUSINESS HERALD