The aging of the Chinese population is accelerating and intensifying, what new signals are released by the new Department of Aging Work of the Ministry of Civil Affairs?
The aging of the population is intensifying, and the problem of old-age care is solved
The ninth briefing of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) on key issues of concern was held in Beijing on November 11, with the theme of "Chinese-style modernization and actively responding to population aging". The construction of the old-age security system, the urban-rural co-ordination of basic old-age services, the empowerment of old-age services by intelligent technology, the shortcomings of rural old-age care, the overall planning of health service resources for the elderly, and the cultivation of geriatric medical talents have become topics of general concern.
Tang Chengpei, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, said that the Ministry of Civil Affairs will focus on improving the policy system for actively responding to the aging of the population, focusing on promoting the construction of a hierarchical and classified pension service system with Chinese characteristics, focusing on solving the "urgency, difficulties and expectations" faced by the elderly, focusing on improving the aging work system, and striving to find a way to actively respond to the aging of the population in line with China's reality and Chinese characteristics.
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According to the China Institutional Establishment Network, the "Regulations on the Allocation of Functions, Internal Institutions and Staffing of the Ministry of Civil Affairs" was made public on November 11. According to this plan, the Ministry of Civil Affairs has set up a new Department of Aging Work in this round of reform, which will undertake the specific work of the Office of the National Working Committee on Aging. Formulate and coordinate the implementation of policies and measures to actively respond to the aging of the population, guide and coordinate the protection of the rights and interests of the elderly, organize and carry out publicity and education on the national conditions of population aging, formulate and organize the implementation of policies for the social participation of the elderly, and undertake statistical surveys on the situation of the elderly population and the development of the cause of the elderly. The original Department of Pension Services of the Ministry of Civil Affairs continued to be retained, and its responsibilities were slightly adjusted, and "formulating and coordinating the implementation of policies and measures to promote the development of the pension industry" was added.
A few days ago, a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Network interviewed experts, scholars and industry professionals to discuss the solution to the problem of pension in an aging society.
Rural pension "can't be overemphasized"
Fan Shiming, a doctoral student at the China Social Security Research Center of Chinese University, pays special attention to the issue of rural pensions. He believes that compared with cities, the elderly in rural areas have a greater and more urgent need for basic pension services, "strengthening the pension security in rural areas cannot be overemphasized." ”
According to the data of the seventh national population census, the elderly population in rural areas accounts for 23.81% of the total rural population, which is higher than the urban aging rate of 15.82%. The overall health status of the elderly in rural areas was 83.9 per cent, which was lower than that of the urban elderly (91.64 per cent).
"There are two major problems in rural areas: insufficient supply of elderly care services and disconnection between supply and demand." During the survey, Fan Shiming found that in some rural areas, most of the elderly who live in nursing homes are young and healthy elderly people from five-guarantee households. "Rural nursing beds are scarce, and many rural elderly people who are more in need, such as disabled or elderly empty nesters, are unable to live in nursing homes because they do not meet the conditions."
"Five miles of different winds, ten miles of different customs", Fan Shiming believes that the demand for basic pension services in rural areas is very different, if you simply copy the supply form of urban pension services, such as institutional pension, community day care, etc., you need to invest a lot of pre-construction funds and follow-up operation and maintenance costs, and it is difficult to meet the actual needs of the elderly in rural areas.
He emphasized that it is necessary to explore a pension model suitable for the elderly in rural areas based on the integration of rural pension resource endowments, such as the establishment of a mutual pension service model based on the existing advantages of traditional rural cultural resources, traditional geography and blood ties.
During the Wuzhen Summit of the 2023 World Internet Conference, at the Zhejiang Digital Village Leading Area Construction Achievement Exhibition, a smart elderly health monitoring and early warning cloud platform attracted attention.
The big screen displays the heart rate, blood oxygen saturation and other information of many elderly people in Shufeng Village, Shimen Town, Tongxiang City, Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province in real time. If the elderly encounter an emergency, the information and location of their guardian will pop up on the screen, and the members of the "Shufeng Red Pioneer Team" formed by the village will go to the rescue as soon as possible.
This is a new picture of digital technology empowering rural pension construction. Yan Hui, deputy secretary of the Party Committee of Shufeng Village, said that Jiaxing is one of the cities with the highest aging population in Zhejiang Province. In the past three years, the number of people over the age of 3 in Shufeng Village has increased from 70 to 521, and the number of people over the age of 653 has reached 60,1200. In October this year, Shufeng Village distributed free smart bracelets to the first batch of 10 elderly people in the village, and also installed sensor detection equipment such as smoke alarms and anti-fall alarms for the elderly to perceive the dynamics of the elderly in real time.
"I hope to use scientific and technological means to solve the problem of health monitoring of the elderly, not only to reassure the elderly, but also to let young adults feel at ease to start a business outside." Today, there are 11 party members in the "Shufeng Red Pioneers" who are on duty 24 hours a day to protect the safety of the elderly.
"Multi-generational building" allows the elderly and young to help each other
A small purple sachet with "peace and health" written on it hangs at the head of the bed of the old man Wang Yunting in Hangzhou, Zhejiang.
In 2020, Wang Yunting received this special gift from the young volunteers of the "Multi-generational Building" project who paired with her. Although she is old, she has always remembered the happiness when the two got along.
In 2019, Hangzhou Binjiang District approved the pilot "multi-generational building" companionship elderly care service project, and recruited young people to live in pilot elderly care institutions at a price of 300 yuan per month management fee, requiring them to accompany the elderly for up to 10 hours per month. The project is now in its fourth year.
According to the relevant person in charge of the Binjiang District Civil Affairs Bureau, after investigation, they found that the elderly who live in nursing institutions are "more or less lonely", and young people come to the elderly, which is not only a kind of companionship, but also the experience and experience of the old people can also be passed on to the companions, "so that the elderly have a feeling of being needed".
In 2019, Xiong Guolu, a post-95 volunteer, moved into a nursing home, and she was initially attracted by the 300 yuan rent. Gradually, she found herself being transformed by the old people here.
The 85-year-old Xu Ruihua gave Xiong Guolu a sense of "his own grandmother", "as soon as I arrived in her room, she stuffed me with food, and cared about my living and working conditions, as if I was in my own home."
The concept of "helping others to help themselves" is evident in this project. Wang Fei, director of the Office of the Binjiang District Committee of the Communist Youth League, said that this project has reduced the living cost of some young people, and at the same time, it also allows young people to integrate with Binjiang and society by participating in social services.
In getting along, Xiong Guolu taught Xu Ruihua to use a smartphone, and Xu Ruihua's care made Xiong Guolu worry about this huge city. She met Zhao Leiqiang, who was also working hard in Hangzhou, during volunteer activities, and the two tied the knot this year.
In June 2022, the National Health Commission issued a notice deciding to carry out a wide range of psychological care for the elderly across the country from 6 to 2022, proposing that by the end of the 2025th Five-Year Plan period, at least one community or village in every county (city, district) in the country should have a psychological care point for the elderly.
"Pension should not only pay attention to the quality of life of the elderly, but also give spiritual comfort to the elderly." Fan Shiming said, "Attaching importance to the spiritual comfort of the elderly and alleviating their loneliness in life will ensure the quality of life in their later years." ”
Home care continues to innovate, and institutional care needs to be "broken" urgently
In May this year, the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Promoting the Construction of the Basic Pension Service System" and the "National Basic Pension Service List", and the construction of China's basic pension service system has entered a new stage of comprehensive promotion.
In March this year, a survey organized by the Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau showed that 3% of the elderly chose to care for the elderly at home; Of the more than 99,22 elderly people with severe disability and dementia, nearly ninety percent choose to care for the elderly at home.
Guo Hanqiao, deputy director of the Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau, introduced that in the past one year of the pilot of the "innovative home-based elderly care service model" in Beijing, more than 1 home-care services have been signed for the pilot of innovative home-based elderly care services in Beijing, which is equivalent to building a "virtual nursing home" with more than 350 beds. At the same time, more than 300,<> orders of meal assistance, medical assistance, cleaning assistance and other services for the elderly have been carried out through small programs, effectively solving the urgent and difficult problems of home elderly care, meal assistance, and medical assistance.
Up to now, nearly 6 market entities in 30 central urban areas of Beijing have participated in the pilot of innovative home-based elderly care service models, and a list of 158 services has been formed, covering life care, rehabilitation services, psychological support and other multi-level and diversified elderly care service needs of the elderly at home.
At the same time, many institutions for the elderly are constantly exploring the way to "break the game".
A few days ago, SDIC Health Industry Investment Co., Ltd. and China Research Center on Aging jointly released the "2023 Pension Industry Development Report - The Road to Breaking the Situation in Institutional Pension Business" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report"), pointing out that China is one of the countries with the fastest aging rate in the world.
Li Xiao, general manager of the health operation and management department of SDIC, interpreted the report and said that China is the country with the largest elderly population in the world, and the market space for the pension industry is huge. The pension industry can be divided into manufacturing, services, real estate and finance four major sectors, of which the service sector is the core sector of the pension industry, with a total market size of more than 2020 trillion yuan in 1, and institutional pension as an important part of China's pension service system, currently in the early stage of industrial development shows low average occupancy rate, weak medical support, lack of professional talents, poor financial performance and other problems, in this sense, institutional pension urgently needs to "break the situation".
"It is necessary to give full play to the supporting role of pension institutions in providing professional pension services for the elderly at home." Fan Shiming believes that taking home care as the mainstream pension method is not to develop pension institutions, and the basic pension services enjoyed by the elderly also need to be provided by professional institutions.
"All aspects of pension services should understand the real needs of the elderly, meet the living needs of the elderly, and conform to the inner wishes of the elderly." Fan Shiming believes that the core value of pension services is to make the elderly feel satisfied and respected, "the formation of a community-based pension service network should be the preferred choice for the elderly to enjoy basic pension services." ”
China Youth Daily, China Youth Network Intern Reporter Liu Yinheng Jia Jiye Reporter Cui Li Source: China Youth Daily