Our reporter Liu Xiaoyan Zhao Lihao
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According to data from the National Health and Medical Commission, the number of elderly people aged 65 and over in my country is about 167 million, and the number of disabled and semi-disabled elderly people exceeds 40 million.
At the same time, it is difficult to maintain and bathe the disabled elderly, which has become a common problem for the elderly at home. The profession of "bath assistant for the elderly", which provides professional bathing services for the elderly, came into being.
Practitioners believe that the professional elderly care industry has broad prospects, and call on relevant talents to join as soon as possible, and rely on solid skills to base themselves in the society.
On April 28, in an old community in Dongzhimen, Beijing, Chen Shijun, an "old man's bath assistant", walked up to the 4th floor with ease, and went to Uncle Zhang's house to provide bath assistance services at the appointed time.
Uncle Zhang is 80 years old this year. He is bedridden for a long time and cannot take care of himself. In the past four years, Chen Shijun has come to check on his physical condition and help solve personal hygiene problems such as bathing.
According to the data of the National Health and Medical Commission, the number of elderly people aged 65 and above in my country is about 167 million, and the number of disabled and semi-disabled elderly people exceeds 40 million. The demand for home medical services is very urgent.
With the development of my country's digital economy, popular new occupations such as "bath assistants for the elderly" continue to emerge, meeting the relevant needs of elderly care with professional services.
Bathing the elderly is a skill
Entering the client's home, Chen Shijun put on his shoe covers first, and opened the tool bag he was carrying while probing his head to say hello to Uncle Zhang.
He took out blood pressure detectors, thermometers, blood oxygen detectors and other instruments, and after doing various inspections, he officially started the bathing work.
"Put a plastic compartment on the bed first, then put the waterproof air cushion on the compartment, and a special bathtub is ready." Chen Shijun has trained a set of fine service procedures in his 10-year-old bathing career, "usually from From the bottom to the top, start from the distal part of the foot and wash up, and wait for the elderly to gradually adapt to the water temperature to avoid causing blood vessel problems."
According to Chen Shijun, after receiving the demand, the company will first arrange professional doctors to conduct two physical assessments on the elderly, and the nurses will also check the blood pressure, pulse, blood oxygen, body temperature and other physical data again when they come to the door.
For the disabled elderly, the simple bathing action is divided into several clear steps: from the arms to the legs, from the chest to the back, from washing the hair to soaking the feet... Chen Shijun helped the elderly to bathe area by area, The whole process lasts an hour and a half.
Behind the trend of population aging is the rapidly growing demand for elderly care services.
According to data from the National Health and Health Commission, my country has more than 40 million disabled and semi-disabled elderly people. It is difficult to maintain and bathe the disabled elderly, which has become a common problem for home care.
In this context, "elderly bathing assistants" such as Chen Shijun, who specialize in providing door-to-door bathing services, came into being.
"Help the elderly take a bath is a technical job with a high threshold, and there are certain safety risks. It requires great patience and care." When he first entered the industry, Chen Shijun also felt the challenge of this job.
With a responsible attitude and the polishing of company skills training, his professional operation has been recognized by the elderly and positive feedback from his family members, and he has gradually improved his service level.
It is reported that the team of elderly care workers belonging to "bath assistants for the elderly" is not only engaged in the basic work of bathing the elderly, and its operation must meet the corresponding service standards.
Practitioners must obtain a nursing qualification certificate issued by the state to serve the elderly.
In addition to providing basic services, senior bath assistants also need to master professional skills such as rehabilitation services, care evaluation, quality management, and training guidance.
Large shortage of employees
According to the data of the Meituan platform, in 2021, the search volume of keywords such as "bathing for the elderly" and "bathing for the elderly" will increase by 808.06% year-on-year, and the order volume of "bathing for the elderly" will increase by 1450% year-on-year.
Practitioners such as Chen Shijun can also rely on the Internet platform to provide flexible bath assistance services to match supply and demand.
43-year-old Chen Shijun is from Fuyu Village, Songyan Town, Jinzhong City, Heshun County, Shanxi Province. He has worked in security and property safety management in Hebei, Beijing and other places. caregiver.
In the past 10 years, Chen Shijun has served more than 500 disabled elderly families.
"The relevant demand mainly comes from the Civil Affairs Bureau, Disabled Persons' Federation and other relevant departments, followed by the long-term care insurance of insurance companies." Chen Shijun said, "In recent years, the demand from Internet platforms has grown the fastest, and many children will pass Meituan and Dianping. Orders, and the frequency of orders is getting higher and higher.”
Compared with the market demand, there is a huge gap in the talent supply in the elderly care industry.
In May 2021, the relevant person in charge of the Medical Administration and Hospital Administration of the National Health and Health Commission stated that my country's demand for elderly care workers is as high as more than 6 million, but there are currently only more than 500,000 service personnel engaged in elderly care, which is far from being satisfied. need.
In order to alleviate the dilemma of talent shortage, in recent years, the central and local governments have issued many policies to encourage and support the development of the industry.
In February 2022, the State Council issued the "14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of National Aging Services and Elderly Care Service System" to support the development of various business formats such as community bathing points, mobile bathing vehicles, and household bathing assistance, and encourage "children's online and offline". Single, elderly experience service”.
The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Civil Affairs also jointly issued the "Beijing Implementation Measures for the Training and Training of Elderly Service Talents", which provides 40,000 to 60,000 yuan of rewards for entering the pension service industry for graduates with secondary vocational, junior college, undergraduate and above degrees.
Call on relevant talents to join as soon as possible
With the successive introduction of supporting policies and the improvement of the supporting environment, more and more young people are willing to invest in the elderly care industry. Zhang Qing, born in 1996, is one of them.
During college, she once did a work internship in elderly care services. "Some elderly people eat, drink, and do things in the room because they lost their ability to move. They haven't taken a bath for a long time. They can't help retching and nausea at the beginning." Zhang Qing had a tough start.
After serving for a period of time, Zhang Qing found that most disabled and semi-disabled elderly people were lonely. "They would share a lot of stories with me, which made me realize the meaning and value outside of work."
Therefore, Zhang Qing chose to continue to be a "bath assistant for the elderly" after graduating from university, and currently serves as the head of the elderly care service station in Nangangzi Community, Dongcheng District, Beijing.
"In modern society, children have a lot of work pressure, do not have the time and energy to take care of their parents, and seldom receive professional training. Improper operations may cause injuries to the elderly." Zhang Qing believes that professional elderly care has broad prospects and the future development is worth looking forward to.
In 2020, Chen Shijun, who has rich experience in nursing care for the elderly, has been transferred to a management position, and his monthly salary is stable at around 10,000 yuan, but he still insists on providing services in front-line nursing positions, "I very much agree with the company's emphasis on full-staff training and life-long training systems. , only by really investing in front-line services can we better improve the level.”
At present, over 120 team members led by Chen Shijun travel through the streets and alleys of Beijing to solve problems for the disabled elderly.
During the two sessions this year, attaching great importance to the construction of the elderly service personnel team, especially the talent team, and strengthening the continuing education of elderly service personnel and the training of reserve talents have become the key direction of the proposals proposed by the deputies.
In this regard, Chen Shijun believes that this is a "good omen" for the development of the elderly care industry, and calls on relevant talents to enter the elderly care service industry as soon as possible, give full play to their understanding and learning ability, and rely on solid professional skills to stand in the society.