Circular on Certain Measures for Promoting the Development of Rural Elderly Care Services (hereinafter “Measures”) was jointly issued by 9 departments in Hunan province on November 29, including Hunan Provincial Civil Affairs Department, the Organization Department of the Hunan Provincial CPC Committee, the Hunan Provincial Development and Reform Commission, and the Hunan Provincial Department of Finance and other five departments.
This ensures the social security of key elderly groups, including elderly people in extreme poverty, and poor seniors who cannot perform essential self-care and have no children’s care, aiming to create a three-tiered old-age care service network, covering county/district (nursing homes), sub-district/township (old-age service centers), and community/village (old-age service stations).
“Measures” points out that Hunan Province will strengthen the nursing-care capacity of the county-level care services institutions for poor elderly people who are disabled and mentally retarded, to meet their care needs.
It will also provide affordable services for disabled and mentally retarded elderly people from households entitled to subsistence allowances, low-income households and “shidu” families (the term for parents that have lost their only child) in rural areas, give township homes for the elderly support in playing its role as a focal point to extend the scope of services to village-level old-age service facilities and the elderly cared for at home, and establish a system of care services such as regular visits and life care, targeting the elderly who are severely disabled, mentally retarded, left behind and from “shidu” families.
The mutual elderly care services for the aged will become a new highlight of rural old-age service in the future.
According to “Measures” and the principle of “ensuring public participation and government support for mutual services at the village level”, the whole province will build service facilities for elderly care services in administrative villages and unincorporated villages according to local conditions, equip them with kitchens, dining rooms, toilets, lounges and other functional places, set up reading rooms, calligraphy and painting room, fitness room and other recreational places and add basic living facilities such as beds (chairs), chess and card tables, cookers and tableware for the elderly.
Services including meals, medical care, emergency, travel and psychological comfort shall be provided for severely impoverished elderly residents cared for at their homes.
The province will also explore the development of “Timebank” and other voluntary services for the old, establish and improve the standardized province-wide circulation mechanism of “Timebank” mutual voluntary service.
In addition, in accordance with the requirements of “Measures”, the province will improve the incentive and security policy for employees of elderly care services, develop public service posts for the elderly in townships and villages, and give priority to migrant workers returning to their hometown, left-behind women, and local surplus labor force to engage in elderly care services.
