(Observation of the Two Sessions) How to protect the "old people" in the epidemic era after an aging population?
China News Service, Beijing, March 3rd. Question: How to protect the "old people" in the epidemic era after an aging population?
Author Chai Jingbo
"Population aging" is not only a national issue, but also a concern of the common people.
As of the end of 2019, there are approximately 254 million people aged 60 and over in China; it is expected that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, China's elderly population will exceed 300 million. This huge population is accompanied by simultaneous growth in the needs of the elderly in many aspects.
Data map: Tuanjie Community, Urumqi, Xinjiang. The elderly ordered Chinese food for the next day through TV.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Liu Xin
It is about the overall development of the country and the welfare of the people.
In 2019, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Promoting the Development of Elderly Care Services", in 2020 the National Health Commission and other three ministries issued the "Guidelines for the Management of Integrated Medical Care and Care Institutions (Trial)", and the "14th Five-Year Plan" proposal put forward "Implement Active Responses" The “National Strategy for Population Aging” and the Internet smart elderly care service model continue to expand.
Hou Jianming, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and director of the Endocrinology Department of Fujian Provincial Hospital, said in an interview with a reporter from China News Agency that there are three main elderly care problems in the post-epidemic era: first, emerging elderly care businesses are severely impacted by the new crown epidemic; second, non-profit institutions have increased operating costs ; Third, it is more difficult to care for the elderly.
This year, Hou Jianming came to the meeting with the "Proposal on Fully Filling Up the Shortcomings and Ensuring the Sustainable and Healthy Development of the Elderly Service Industry in the Post-epidemic Period", suggesting to increase support for pension policies, pay attention to subsidies for relevant practitioners, and deepen the “Internet + pension” "Integrate the model and strengthen the departments to jointly improve the service quality of integrated medical care.
Huang Gairong, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and director of the Department of Geriatrics of Henan Provincial People’s Hospital, who is known as the “spokesperson” and “friend of the elderly” of the silver-haired tribe, told reporters that the department of geriatrics should be established as soon as possible to solve the problem of “one body and many diseases” among Chinese elderly problem.
"Encourage second-level and higher hospitals, including hospitals of traditional Chinese medicine, to establish geriatric medicine departments." Take the "Comprehensive Evaluation of Elderly" software system of Henan Provincial People's Hospital where Huang Gairong is located as an example. For patients, the Department of Geriatrics will participate in the assessment and give relevant treatment suggestions as needed, so that patients can get more professional diagnosis and treatment without running away.
Wu Hao, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and director of the Fangzhuang Community Health Service Center in Fengtai District, Beijing, said in an interview with a reporter from China News Agency that it is difficult to rely on medical treatment to deal with the problem of elderly care, and the quality of nursing homes is also difficult to guarantee. It is more scientific for the right people to take care of the aged in the right place in the community.
"The concept of the elderly should also be updated. Age is not the only criterion for judging. Pay attention to a younger mentality and a healthy body." Wu Hao believes that mental health is particularly critical in judging "old age" and physical and mental health can win. Demographic Dividend.
Data map: A community worker is teaching the elderly to use smartphones.
Photo by Yang Di
One is nurturing, the second is medicine, and the third is attention.
The issue of old-age care cannot simply focus on "seeing a doctor, treating and recovering from a sickness", but also paying attention to the actual living conditions of the elderly and the exertion of their main abilities.
Today is an aging society, as well as a digital society and an Internet society.
There are currently 254 million elderly people in China, but only over 60 million of them are netizens.
The old people’s long-accustomed lifestyles such as cash shopping, queuing for registration, and manual ticket purchases have been disrupted by "online operations", and some elderly people are "at a loss."
At present, most areas of China already have the conditions to connect to the Internet, but the Internet does not mean universal, and digital products are not necessarily suitable for the elderly.
The report "My Old Domain: WeChat Life and Family WeChat Backfeeding for the Elderly" jointly released by the Tencent Research Institute and the team of Professor Zhou Yuqiong of Shenzhen University pointed out that new technologies are created by young people and mainly serve young people, but only serve a single group. It is the self-limitation of technology products.
As the aging of the population intensifies, the technology industry should consider integrating the needs of the elderly from the beginning of product design. This is a more inclusive, forward-looking and reasonable performance.
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