192 township elderly care centers set up in Beijing
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E-mail China.org.cn, August 23, 2019
Beijing has supported the construction of 275 elderly care centers at the sub-district and township level, 192 of which have been completed and put into use, according to Li Hongbing, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau, at the 8th China International Pension Service Expo unveiled in Beijing on Aug. 22.
Statistics show that as of the end of 2018, elderly people above 60 in Beijing numbered 3.65 million, accounting for 16.9% of the total population.
At present, around 46,000 elderly residents live in elderly care institutions in the city, accounting for 1.26% of the population of aged permanent residents (3.648 million). More than 98% of the elderly live at home.
Li Hongbing said this means that the whole society is in want of nearby elderly care services, and home-based elderly care will be the major form provided for those with disabilities or dementia.
In addition, 755 community-based elderly service centers have been set up and the total number is expected to reach 1,000 by 2020.
Li also disclosed problems with the construction of the community and home-based elderly care service systems, namely, improperly defined functions of the government, insufficient input of public and financial resources.
Li said Beijing has included care facilities into its national land use planning since 2013. Due to the lack of land supply and vicinity-oriented caring needs, it is overwhelmingly difficult to offer elderly care in the vicinity.
Li suggests categorizing elderly care into different areas, based on senior citizens' capabilities. He ensures that the government will offer basic elderly care while allowing the society as a whole to cater to various elderly needs.
As land supply is both the key and bottleneck to putting senior care on a sustainable track in megacities, efforts must be made to ensure adequate land supply in the vicinity. For example, the government can appropriate land to basic elderly care for free as a permanent facility for the elderly nearby, seek land supply at a low cost for seniors with disabilities and provide market-based solutions for elderly facilities that are not nearby.
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