As of the end of 2019, the proportion of China's population aged 60 and above has reached 18.1%. It is expected that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, my country's elderly population will exceed 300 million.

This marks that my country has officially entered from a mildly aging society to a moderately aging society, and how to provide for the elderly has become a hot topic for the whole people.

On March 5, Premier Li Keqiang made a government work report, which mentioned the issue of elderly care in many places.

While China's population tends to be aging, it is also facing the challenge of "getting old before getting rich". Industry insiders pointed out that in the future, the coordinated development of institutions, communities, and home care will become the key direction of the industry.

　　●Nanfang Daily reporter Yan Huifang

　　Intern Jang Seo-hyun

　　"Government Work Report" mentions community pension again

　　Elderly service is the focus of people's livelihood.

On March 5, 2021, the "Government Work Report" put forward the following tasks in the section of "Strengthening Basic People's Livelihood Security" for elderly care services: promote the integration of medical care, health and wellness, and steadily advance the pilot program of long-term care insurance.

Develop community elderly care, nursery, dining, cleaning and other diversified services, strengthen the construction of supporting facilities, implement more favorable policies, and make community life more convenient.

Improve traditional service guarantee measures to provide more comprehensive and considerate services for the elderly and other groups.

The promotion of intelligent services must adapt to the needs of the elderly, and ensure that smart tools do not cause obstacles to the daily lives of the elderly.

　　On May 22, 2020, the "Government Work Report" in the section "Implementing the Strategy of Expanding Domestic Demand and Promoting the Accelerated Transformation of Economic Development Mode" put forward the following tasks for elderly care services: develop elderly care and childcare services; develop a large health industry; Develop diverse community services such as home care, dining, and cleaning.

On March 5, 2019, the “Government Work Report” stated in the section “Promote the formation of a strong domestic market and continue to release the potential of domestic demand”: my country’s population over 60 has reached 250 million.

It is necessary to vigorously develop the elderly care industry, especially the community elderly care service industry, and provide tax relief, financial support, and preferential water, electricity, and heating prices to institutions that provide services such as day care, rehabilitation care, and food assistance in the community. Newly built residential areas should be supported. Support the construction of community elderly care service facilities, strengthen the construction of rural elderly care service facilities, reform and improve the policy of integrating medical and elderly care, and expand the pilot program of the long-term care insurance system so that the elderly can have a happy old age and have a promising future.

　　The "Government Work Report" mentions community elderly care services for three consecutive years, which can give a glimpse of the key development direction of the elderly care industry in the future.

　　On February 23 this year, Minister of Civil Affairs Li Jiheng also mentioned in answering the media’s questions about the work in the field of civil affairs during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period at the press conference of the State Council, that we must vigorously develop home-based community elderly care services so that all elderly people can enjoy " The home-based community elderly care services "by your side, bedside, and surrounding areas" increase the accessibility and diversification of services.

Optimize institutions for the elderly, give priority to the development of nursing beds, strengthen the combination of medical care, health care, and meet the most urgent needs of the elderly for disability care as much as possible.

Vigorously develop the new business model of “elder care +”, promote the coordinated development of the elderly care industry, meet the needs of different levels of elderly care services, strengthen the supervision of elderly care services, and ensure the quality of elderly care services.

　　Pension enterprise

　　Layout community home care

　　"I saw people on the Internet saying that you should not go to a nursing home even if you are killed. After living in, I found out that it was not the case." Aunt Cui, 84, was a doctor before retiring and had never considered going to a nursing home. .

But her husband, who was 4 years older, was deteriorating. She was incontinent. She could not take care of her alone. The younger generation was too busy to work. Finally, she had to accompany her husband to stay in Yuexiu Haiyiyuan, an elderly care institution in Haizhu District, Guangzhou.

In this elderly care institution, most of them are her peers, and some are even nearly 100 years old.

Although remembering her family and friends, Aunt Cui also found her own rhythm here, “I practice the piano for two hours in the hall every day, and there will be a small concert on Wednesday. During the epidemic, three meals will be delivered to the room. Make a lot of friends.” And because the nursing home is located in a busy city, family members come to visit twice a week.

　　There are not a few elderly people like Aunt Cui who are "forced" to live in nursing homes.

A reporter from the Nanfang Daily learned from Yuexiu Haiyiyuan that the 65 beds in the first phase have been filled, and the average check-in age for the elderly is over 80 years old.

Zhong Li (pseudonym), who lives in a community near Haiyiyuan, her husband had to be admitted to a nursing home due to his deteriorating health. Zhong Li came to visit almost every day to accompany her husband to do exercises and sometimes brought soup.

"If it's not that I can't afford two people, I would also like to live in." Zhong Li told reporters.

　　Data from the Civil Affairs Department of Guangdong Province shows that there are 1,834 elderly care institutions in the province (including 1,186 rural nursing homes) and 482,700 beds (including 220,000 rural beds for the elderly), an increase from the end of the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" period. Increased by 41.3% and 108%.

Although the proportion of elderly care beds is still insufficient relative to the number of elderly groups, not all elderly care beds are "difficult to find."

Liu Dong, deputy general manager of the Southeast region of Huabang Meihaojiayuan Elderly Co., Ltd., told reporters that there is a mismatch between demand and supply in the elderly care market. “The occupancy rate of large-scale elderly care institutions in suburbs is not high, while small embedded elderly care institutions in urban areas often need Waiting in line.” On the one hand, it is related to the elderly’s concept of providing for the elderly, hoping to provide for the elderly nearby; on the other hand, it is also related to the insufficient supply of embedded elderly care institutions in the community.

　　The problem of the supply of elderly care at home is restricted by the limited property available in the old city area and an inch of land; on the other hand, it is also restricted by the "neighbor effect". Therefore, although the demand is large, the market supply is not much.

In contrast, large-scale elderly care institutions in the suburbs have cheap land and more beds, which are likely to form economies of scale.

　　Intelligence helps home care for the elderly

　　Explore new models

　　How to solve the elderly needs of most people?

Pension companies are also exploring.

　　"At present, institutional care services are extended to families, and home care beds have become the focus." Liu Dong said that home care beds not only solve the security pain points of elderly care at home, but also meet the needs of professional care in the market.

　　However, in terms of corporate operating costs, one-to-one home care services means higher payment costs than the one-to-many service model of institutional care.

Liu Dong pointed out that although the entire pension market is huge, the investment is large and the payback period is long. Pension companies are usually in a state of meager profit or even loss.

It is roughly estimated that it will take 6-7 years for a good project to recover the cost of an old-age care institution, and some even 8-10 years.

The cost of pension institutions is mainly composed of property rental costs, labor costs, meal costs, and early investment allocation, among which labor costs account for at least 40%.

"The elderly care industry is a human-intensive industry, and the labor costs are getting higher and higher, and the charging standards cannot increase at the same time, so it will face cost challenges."

　　The use of the Internet and information technology to promote the intelligent transformation of home care for the elderly is becoming the direction to solve the problem.

Liu Dong introduced that Winbond Homeland took the lead in exploring the integrated development model of "elder care + housekeeping", and built a one-stop comprehensive elderly care service center in Yuexiu, Haizhu and other districts of Guangzhou, and undertook the operation of "Guangzhou Ping An Tong" slow care service , Exporting more than 600,000 people-time home services each year, becoming the first batch of pilot units in Guangzhou such as "family elderly beds", "rehabilitation assistive device rentals", "community nursing stations", and "Yangcheng Home Economics Primary Service Stations".

　　Jiurucheng Group, an elderly care company from Jiangsu, is also deploying the home care market.

"We have established a big data monitoring platform in the Yikang Center in Baiyun District and have installed 400 sets of safety care system devices for nearby residents." Huang Lili, project director of the Baiyun Center in Jiuru City, told a reporter from Nanfang Daily, September 1, 2020 The center began to undertake home security care system equipment services. The equipment includes 4 sensors. Door sensors can monitor the elderly’s movement track, infrared rays can monitor the elderly’s physical condition, gas sensors and smoke sensors can be installed in the kitchen, and handles are generally installed in the kitchen. In places where there are many movements such as toilets, once the elderly living alone touches the alarm device, the alarm system will display the information of the household's name and address, which is convenient for the elderly to call for emergency help and the platform to carry out related rescue.

　　“At present, the growth of community home care services is very fast. It can be seen that there is a strong market demand. Although government purchases are currently the mainstay, the marketization is also expanding. In the future, companies need to consider how to improve service efficiency and reduce costs. Many elderly people provide accessible and diverse services." Liu Dong finally said.