The senior citizen care service industry in Hubei met new opportunities. The provincial government officially promulgated the “Opinions on Implementation of Further Development of Senior Citizen Care Service Industry”. The “Opinions” puts forward that the province will completely establish the urban and rural senior citizen care service system by 2020. With complete functions, appropriate scales, excellent services and standard operations, the system will be based on family, depend on community and supported by agencies. The senior citizen care services will cover all the senior citizen at home. The standard community home-based care service centers, the senior citizen centers and other facilities will cover all urban communities. More than 90% of the towns will set up compressive facilities, including senior citizen care services. Over 60 % of rural communities will build mutual care centers or daycare centers for the urban senior citizen.
By then, the beds of the province’s senior citizen care institutions and community day care will rise to more than 180,000. The number of senior citizen care beds will reach 35 for per thousand old people. More innovative senior citizen care service models will be initially shaped, including those that involve cooperation with the health care, housekeeping, finance, culture, education and tourism industries. The senior citizen care products will be more abundant. And the market mechanism will be constantly improved. The senior citizen care service industry which initially appeared industrial clusters will create more than 450,000 job opportunities.
4 highlights of the new policy
According to the statistics of Provincial Committee on Aging, Hubei province has entered the aging society as early as 1998 on the basis of the international standards. Currently, the province’s population aged 60 and over has exceeded 8.89 million, accounted for 15.4% of the total population.
The reporter interviewed the official in charge for the provincial Civil Affairs Department. He participated in the drafting of “Opinions on the Implementation of Further Development of Senior citizen Care Service Industry” and interpreted the high points in the new policies to the reporter.
Traditional home-based senior citizen care is the foundation
Home-based senior citizen care is a tradition. Provincial Civil Affairs Department explained that the “Opinions” nailed down the home-based senior citizen care is the foundation. It required localities to greatly develop community home-based care services. Actively foster home-based senior citizen care service enterprises and institutions by a variety of measures, including purchasing services, entrusting project. Provide helping meals, helping bath, helping clean, helping doctors and other customized services for the senior citizen at home. Vigorously develop the household service to provide standardized and personalized services for the senior citizen at home.
Support communities to establish and improve home-based care service websites, encourage social organizations, household services, properties and other businesses to set up or operate the providing meals to senior citizen, community day care, senior citizen activity centers and other forms of senior citizen care services.
The “Opinions” proposed to establish an senior citizen care service subsidy system focusing on the senior citizen living separately from their children, senior citizens who enjoy the minimum living guarantee and other old people with financial difficulties. Provide at least 1 hour service for each person per day by purchasing services from the public, etc.
Private nursing homes play a major role
Currently, public and private nursing homes are few in number, particularly in rural area, which is a big problem in Hubei Province.
Provincial Civil Affairs Department explained：the“Opinions”puts forward that public nursing homes should take the basic responsibility of pension protection, especially supply nursing services with no fees or low fees for three non-elderly people (refers to elderly people without labor capacity, without source of income, or without support person or the support person is out of support ability), elderly people with low income, disabled or half disabled elderly people with financial difficulties. The “Opinions” propose to develop new nursing homes under social parties or foreign investment. It encourages individual and community nursing homes development. On base of distinct property rights, fixed pension purposes and state assets, the nursing homes are encouraged to be publicly invested and privately operated. Before the end of 2015, construction and operation subsidy will be subsidized to those non-profit social nursing homes. No less than 1000 yuan will be subsidized to each bed in newly constructed nursing homes and no less than 500 yuan for renovation and leasing (maximum 500 beds in each nursing home); for those nursing homes with more than a years’ operation, no less than 900 yuan per disabled elderly people, and no less than 600 yuan per other elderly people will be subsidized per year.
Health and elderly care integration represents the general trend
To Integrate the health and elderly care represents the general trend. Elderly people have strong demand for health care, particularly the disabled people. Currently, nursing homes which integrate health and elderly care are few in number, far from the common demand.
The Provincial Civil Affairs Department explained that the “Opinions” emphasizes on health and elderly care integration. Clear requirements are proposed to support health care construction in nursing homes; support nursing homes and neighboring hospitals, primary health care institutions cooperation; support primary health care institutions transformation to elderly nursing homes; support elderly nursing homes, geriatric rehabilitation hospitals construction under social investment.
The “Opinions” also proposes that each medical institutions or community health services should establish health records for elderly people to promote service relationships between community health services and elderly households. They should also supply door-to-door services, health check, health counseling and other services in order to accelerate pilot telemedicine services.
In addition, the "Opinions" proposes to improve the health insurance system, incorporating medical institutions which meet urban workers (residents) and the new rural cooperative medical insurance conditions inside nursing institutions into designated medical institutions. According to relevant policy, the insured elderly people who is hospitalized in such medical institutions could receive corresponding treatment.
Family care shifting to mutual care in rural areas
For thousands of years, raising children for endowment has been the main pattern in rural areas.
The Provincial Civil Affairs Department explained that the "Opinions" highlights to give full play to the function of villager autonomy and elderly association; urge family members to perform their duties according to law; incorporate elderly five-guarantees into supporting scope; utilize idle rural real estate, health clinic and other resources to construct rural elderly mutual care centers; encourage qualified villages to construct day care or full-time happy nursing homes; rural areas have priorities to use financial funds for pension services at all levels of government.