Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, November 24th
CPC Central Committee and State Council
Opinions on Strengthening the Work on the Elderly in the New Era
(November 18, 2021)
Effectively responding to the aging of our country’s population has a bearing on the overall situation of the country’s development, on the well-being of hundreds of millions of people, on social harmony and stability, and is of great significance to the comprehensive construction of a modern socialist country. In order to implement the national strategy to actively respond to the aging of the population, strengthen the work on aging in the new era, and enhance the sense of acquisition, happiness, and security of the elderly, the following opinions are hereby put forward.
1. General requirements
(1) Guiding ideology. Guided by Xi Jinping’s Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, thoroughly implement the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th Plenary Sessions of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, strengthen the party’s overall leadership of the work on aging, and adhere to Take the people as the center, integrate the development of the cause of aging into the overall planning of the “five in one” and coordinate the promotion of the “four comprehensive” strategic layout, implement the national strategy to actively respond to the aging of the population, and integrate the positive outlook on aging and the concept of healthy aging into the economy and society Develop the whole process, accelerate the establishment and improvement of relevant policy systems and institutional frameworks, vigorously promote the traditional virtues of filial piety and respect for the elderly of the Chinese nation, promote the overall development of elderly care services, health services, social security, social participation, and rights protection, and promote high-quality aging services Develop and embark on a path of actively responding to the aging population with Chinese characteristics.
(2) Working principles
—— Adhere to the leadership of the party committee and the participation of all parties. Under the leadership of the party committee, give full play to the government’s leading role in advancing the development of the cause of aging, social participation, national action, and provide basic public welfare products and services. Give full play to the role of market mechanisms and provide diversified products and services. Pay attention to the role of family care and personal self-care, and form a new situation in which multiple subjects share responsibilities, escalated responses to aging risks, and everyone participates in aging businesses.
——Insist on systematic planning and comprehensive implementation of policies. Adhere to the combination of responding to the aging of the population with the promotion of economic and social development, adhere to the combination of meeting the needs of the elderly and solving the problem of population aging, ensure that the goals of various policies and systems are consistent, the functions are coordinated, and the cohesion is supported. The doctors, the elderly have something to do, the old have learning, and the old have fun, so that the elderly can share the fruits of reform and development and enjoy a happy old age.
——Insist on integrating resources and coordinated development. Build an old-age service system and a health support system that coordinate home and community institutions and combine medical care and health care, vigorously develop inclusive old-age care services, and promote the balanced allocation of resources. Promote the coordinated development of the elderly undertakings and industries, basic public services and diversified services, and coordinate the institutional arrangements for the elderly’s economic security, service security, spiritual care, and role play.
——Insist on highlighting key points and consolidating the grassroots. Focus on solving the most urgent problems in the elderly’s health care for the elderly, insist on ensuring basic, promoting fairness, and improving quality, doing our best and doing what we can to ensure that everyone enjoys basic elderly care and public health services. Promote the lowering of the focus of work for the elderly and the sinking of resources, and promote the gathering of various high-quality service resources to the elderly, their homes, and the surrounding areas, to ensure that the elderly work is handled, the elderly matters are managed, and the elderly are in difficulties.
2. Improve the elderly care service system
(3) Innovate the service model for the elderly in the home community. On the basis of home care, improve the community’s elderly care service capabilities through new construction, renovation, lease, etc., focus on the development of the street (township), urban and rural community two-level elderly care service network, and rely on the community to develop diversified home-based elderly care services. The local government is responsible for exploring and promoting the establishment of a model for the extension of professional agency services to communities and families. Sub-district communities are responsible for introducing professional institutions that serve the elderly in terms of meal assistance and cleaning assistance. Community organizations introduce relevant nursing professional institutions to carry out care for the elderly at home; the government strengthens organization and supervision. The government must cultivate professional institutions that serve the elderly, guide their standardized development, and guide them to provide sustained and stable services in accordance with the principle of guaranteed and meager profit. Give full play to the role of community party organizations, explore the “community + property + elderly care service” model, and increase the effective supply of home community elderly care services. Combining with the implementation of the rural revitalization strategy, strengthen the construction of rural elderly care service institutions and facilities, and encourage the development of mutual aid services for the elderly based on village-level neighborhood mutual aid points and rural happiness homes.
(4) Further standardize the development of pension institutions. Various localities should develop institutional pensions through direct construction, commissioned operations, purchase of services, and encouragement of social investment. Strengthen the construction of the Glory Institute. Public elderly care institutions give priority to accepting the disabled (including dementia, the same below), widows, orphans, disabled, elderly people, elderly people in special family planning families, and elderly people who have made important contributions to society, and provide them with quality and safety standards. Of elderly care services. Establish and improve the standards and evaluation systems for elderly care services, and strengthen the supervision of the construction and operation of elderly care institutions. Research and formulate management policies for the advance collection of service fees for elderly care institutions, and strictly prevent acts such as borrowing money from elderly care institutions and fraud.
(5) Establish a list system for basic elderly care services. Localities should formulate a list of basic elderly care services based on financial affordability, and provide appropriate services such as elderly care security, life care, rehabilitation care, and social assistance for different elderly groups such as health, disability, and financial difficulties. The list should clarify the service targets, service content, service standards and expenditure responsibilities, and make dynamic adjustments in accordance with economic and social development and technological progress. Before the end of 2022, a comprehensive assessment system for the abilities of the elderly will be established, and the assessment results will be recognized across departments across the country.
(6) Improve the multi-level old-age security system. Expand the coverage of endowment insurance and gradually realize full coverage of statutory personnel in basic endowment insurance. The national overall plan for the basic endowment insurance for enterprise employees will be realized as soon as possible. Improve the basic old-age insurance benefit adjustment mechanism to guarantee the basic life of benefit recipients. Vigorously develop enterprise (occupational) annuities, and promote and standardize the development of the third pillar endowment insurance. Explore ways to increase the income of rural elderly people through asset income support systems.
3. Improve the health support system for the elderly
(7) Improve the health service and management level of the elderly. Strengthen the publicity and education of elderly health knowledge in urban and rural communities to improve the health literacy of the elderly. Do a good job in the health management of the elderly in the national basic public health service projects and the health management services of traditional Chinese medicine. Strengthen the early screening, intervention and classification guidance of key chronic diseases of the elderly, and carry out the oral health of the elderly, the nutrition improvement of the elderly, the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s and psychological care. Increasing the coverage rate of contracted services by family doctors for the elderly who are disabled, seriously ill, the elderly, and low-income, etc., and improve the quality of services. Expand the scope of home medical services provided by the medical consortium, such as family beds and outpatient visits. Reimbursement of related medical expenses can be made according to regulations, and on-site service fees will be charged at cost. Actively play the role of primary medical and health institutions in providing quality Chinese medicine services to the elderly. Strengthen the construction of the National Geriatrics Center and deploy several regional geriatric medical centers. Strengthen the construction of geriatric medicine departments in general hospitals. By 2025, more than 60% of general hospitals will set up geriatric medicine departments in second-level and above general hospitals. Strengthen the construction of geriatric hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals, nursing homes (centers, stations) and special care hospitals through new construction, reconstruction, expansion, and transformation and development, and establish a two-way referral mechanism for medical care, rehabilitation and nursing care. Speed up the construction of friendly medical institutions for the elderly to make it easier for the elderly to see a doctor.
(8) Strengthen long-term care services and guarantees for disabled elderly people. Improve the long-term care service model from professional institutions to communities and families. In accordance with the relevant requirements of the implementation of the national basic public health service projects, carry out the health assessment and health services for the disabled elderly. Relying on nursing homes (centers, stations), community health service centers, township health centers and other medical and health institutions, as well as elderly care service institutions with service capabilities, provide long-term care services for disabled elderly people. Develop “Internet + care services”, and actively develop family pension beds and nursing beds to facilitate the care of disabled elderly people. Steadily expand the trial of tranquility treatment. Promote the pilot program of long-term care insurance system steadily, and guide local governments to focus on further clarifying the scope of insurance and protection, continuously improving diversified financing mechanisms, improving scientific and reasonable treatment policies, improving treatment payment and other related standards and management methods, and innovating management and service mechanisms. , Intensify exploration, improve existing pilots, and actively explore the establishment of a long-term care insurance system suitable for my country’s national conditions.
(9) Deepen the integration of medical care and nursing care. The health department and the civil affairs department should establish a communication and coordination mechanism for the integration of medical care and nursing care. Encourage medical and health institutions and elderly care institutions to develop agreements and cooperation, further integrate and optimize primary medical and health and elderly care resources, and provide services such as medical treatment, rehabilitation care, and life care. Support the transformation of secondary and lower medical institutions in areas with rich medical resources, and carry out rehabilitation, nursing, and integrated medical care services. Encourage the grassroots to actively explore the on-demand and standardized conversion mechanism of elderly care beds and medical beds in relevant institutions. According to the characteristics of serving the elderly, the medical insurance limit of medical institutions organized by elderly care institutions shall be reasonably approved. Before the end of 2025, every county (city, district, banner) will have 1 support service organization for extremely poor people at the county level with the function of combining medical care and nursing care. Qualified disabled elderly family members who participate in nursing knowledge and other related vocational skills training are given vocational training subsidies in accordance with regulations. Create a batch of demonstration projects for the integration of medical and elderly care.
4. Promote the social participation of the elderly
(10) Expand the supply of education resources for the elderly. Incorporating education for the elderly into the lifelong education system, the education department takes the lead in researching and formulating policies and measures for the development of education for the elderly, adopting methods such as promoting education for the elderly in schools with conditions, and supporting social forces to run universities (schools) for the elderly to promote the expansion of the supply of education resources for the elderly. Encourage qualified colleges and universities and vocational colleges to set up majors and courses related to senior education, and strengthen the construction of disciplines and majors and the training of talents. Compile textbooks related to senior education. Relying on the National Open University to prepare for the establishment of the National University for the Elderly, and to build a national platform for sharing education resources and public services for the elderly. Innovate mechanisms to promote the opening of schools for the elderly organized by departments, industry enterprises, and universities to the society. Give full play to the role of community party organizations and guide the elderly to practice a positive outlook on ageing.
(11) Improve the quality of cultural and sports services for the elderly. All localities should revitalize vacant houses, parks, shopping malls and other resources to support neighborhood communities to actively provide cultural and sports venues for the elderly, organize cultural and sports activities, and realize the integration of entertainment, fitness, culture, learning, consumption, and exchanges for the elderly. . Cultivate grass-roots cultural and sports backbones who serve the elderly, improve the participation rate and quality of cultural and sports activities for the elderly, and the departments of culture, tourism, and sports should do a good job of standardization and management. Develop tourism products and routes for the elderly, and improve the quality and level of tourism services for the elderly. Counties (cities, districts, and banners) should integrate existing resources and set up educational, cultural, fitness, and exchange places suitable for the elderly.
(12) Encourage the elderly to continue to play a role. Combine the benefits of the elderly with the support of the elderly, improve policies and measures such as employment, voluntary services, and community governance, and give full play to the role of the young people. In schools, hospitals and other units, as well as in industries such as community housekeeping services and public place service management, explore flexible employment models suitable for the elderly. Encourage localities to establish an information database for senior citizens to provide job introductions, vocational skills training, and innovation and entrepreneurship guidance services for seniors who are willing to work. In-depth development of the “Silver Age Action” to guide the elderly to actively participate in grassroots democratic supervision, changing customs, civil mediation, culture, education and health in the form of voluntary services. Give full play to the active role of the elderly in family education and inheritance of family traditions. Strengthen the construction of grassroots party organizations for retired cadres and workers, encourage old party members to transfer their organizational relationships to their habitual residence in a timely manner, and guide old party members to play their roles in accordance with their actual conditions, and do a good job of spiritual care and ideological guidance for the elderly. Completely clean up unreasonable regulations that prevent the elderly from continuing to play a role.
5. Focus on building an elderly-friendly society
(13) Strengthen the protection of the rights and interests of the elderly. When formulating specific measures involving the interests of the elderly, all localities shall seek the opinions of the elderly. Establish and improve early warning, investigation, and mediation mechanisms for conflicts and disputes involving elderly marriages and families, torts, etc. Strengthen the publicity of the protection of the rights and interests of the elderly, increase the awareness of the elderly to use legal means to protect their rights, improve the ability of the elderly to recognize and prevent fraud, and severely crack down on illegal and criminal activities such as telecommunications and network fraud in accordance with the law. Improve the guardianship system for the elderly. Advocate law firms, notary agencies, and basic legal service organizations to reduce or exempt legal service fees for the elderly, and provide door-to-door services for the elderly with limited mobility. Establish an elderly-appropriate litigation service mechanism to provide protection for the elderly to facilitate their participation in litigation activities.
(14) Create a livable environment for the elderly. All localities must implement barrier-free environment construction laws, standards and norms, incorporate barrier-free environment construction and aging renovation into urban renewal, urban old community renovation, rural dilapidated house renovation, and improvement of rural human settlements environment. Activities are safer and more convenient. Encourage places where conditions permit to implement barrier-free and age-appropriate renovations, equip living aids, install emergency rescue facilities, and carry out regular visits to families of the elderly who are in financial difficulties, such as disabled, disabled, and elderly. Guide localities to introduce standards for aging-adaptive home improvement based on actual conditions, and encourage more families to carry out aging-adaptive reformation. While encouraging the promotion of new technologies and methods, the traditional service methods familiar to the elderly are retained, and the Internet applications and mobile terminals and APP applications commonly used by the elderly are accelerated to adapt to aging. Implement the “Smart Helping the Elderly” action, strengthen digital skills education and training, and improve the digital literacy of the elderly.
(15) Strengthen social respect for the elderly. Carry out in-depth education on the national conditions of the aging of the population. Implement the Chinese cultural heritage and innovation project of filial piety and respect for the elderly. Continue to promote the “Respect for the Aged Month” series of activities and the “Respect for the Elderly Civilization” activities, combined with the selection of models of the times and moral models, and select trees to commend advanced models of filial piety and respect for the elderly. The old volunteer service will be incorporated into the comprehensive practical activities of primary and secondary schools and the practical content of college students. Strengthen the work of preferential treatment for the elderly, encourage places where conditions permit to further expand preferential treatment projects, innovate preferential treatment methods, set up preferential treatment signs for the elderly in eye-catching locations, and promote the use of identity cards for the elderly, etc. Valid certificates enjoy various preferential policies. Where conditions permit, it is necessary to actively implement projects for the elderly from other cities to equally enjoy local preferential treatment. Give full play to the role of radio, television and online audiovisual media, strengthen publicity and guidance, and create a good social atmosphere for respecting the elderly.
6. Actively cultivate the silver-haired economy
(16) Strengthen planning and guidance. Formulate relevant special plans, improve the supporting policy system, and coordinate the promotion of the development of the aging industry. Encourage localities to take advantage of resource endowments and develop characteristic aging industries with comparative advantages. Co-ordinate the use of existing funding channels to support the development of the aging industry.
(17) Develop industries suitable for the elderly. Relevant departments should formulate catalogs and quality standards of elderly supplies and services, and promote the certification of elderly services. All localities should promote the standardized development of the food, medicine and elderly products industries closely related to the lives of the elderly, improve the function and quality of traditional elderly care products, and meet the special needs of the elderly. Enterprises and scientific research institutions should increase the R&D and manufacturing of products for the elderly, support the transformation of key technological achievements of products for the elderly, service innovation, and actively develop intelligent, auxiliary and rehabilitation products suitable for the elderly to meet the needs of the elderly to improve their lives. The demand for quality. Encourage companies to set up special counters and experience stores for the integration of online and offline services for the elderly, and vigorously develop new models and business formats for the integration of elderly care-related industries. Encourage commercial insurance institutions to develop health insurance products for the elderly under the premise of controllable risks and sustainable business. Market supervision and other departments should strengthen supervision, severely crack down on illegal activities such as infringement of intellectual property rights and the production and sale of counterfeit and shoddy goods, safeguard the consumption rights of the elderly, and create a safe, convenient, and honest consumption environment.
7. Strengthen work protection for the elderly
(18) Strengthen the construction of talent team. Accelerate the construction of professional technology, social services, business management, scientific research talents and volunteer teams that meet the needs of aging work in the new era. Employers must earnestly guarantee the salaries and benefits of elderly care service personnel, establish a salary distribution mechanism based on job value, ability, quality, and performance contribution, and enhance the attractiveness of elderly care services. Vigorously develop relevant vocational education, and carry out elderly care services and nursing staff training and training actions. For medical staff working in medical institutions organized by elderly care institutions, reference can be made to the implementation of relevant incentive policies for grassroots medical staff.
(19) Strengthen the supply of facilities for the elderly. Relevant departments in all regions should strengthen the construction of facilities for the elderly in accordance with the requirements of the “National Medium and Long-term Plan for Active Response to Population Aging”, and accelerate the realization of the goals of nursing beds in elderly institutions and universities (schools) for the elderly. All localities shall formulate and promulgate standards and implementation rules for supporting elderly care service facilities in newly-built urban areas, newly-built residential areas, old urban areas and built-up residential areas, and implement the requirements for the establishment of elderly service facilities. The newly-built urban areas and newly-built residential areas shall be equipped with supporting facilities for the elderly in accordance with the requirements of the standards to achieve full coverage. By 2025, a batch of elderly care service facilities will be built in the old city and built-up residential areas in conjunction with the transformation of old urban areas and the construction of residential areas to make up for shortcomings, and the “one quarter of an hour” home care service circle will be gradually improved. Relying on and integrating existing resources, develop sub-district (township) regional elderly service centers or service complexes for the elderly, and coordinate relevant policies and funds in accordance with regulations to provide comprehensive services for the elderly. Explore the centralized layout, co-construction and sharing of service facilities for the elderly and children’s service facilities.
(20) Improve relevant support policies. To meet the funding needs for the development of aging undertakings for a period of time in the future, improve the financial investment policy and multi-channel financing mechanism for the development of aging undertakings, continue to increase the investment support within the central budget, and further increase the use of social welfare by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and local governments at all levels The percentage of lottery public welfare funds used for elder care services. All localities must coordinate the development of the cause of aging, increase financial investment, and all relevant departments must make good use of relevant funds and resources to actively support the work of aging. Research and formulate housing and other supporting policies, improve the tiered electricity, water, and gas price policies, and encourage adult children and elderly parents to live nearby or live together, perform maintenance obligations, and assume care responsibilities. For zero-employment family members with heavy support burdens, priority will be given to public welfare positions in accordance with regulations. Implement relevant fiscal and taxation support policies, and encourage various non-profit social organizations or charitable organizations to increase investment in the cause of aging. Carry out national demonstration activities for the creation of elderly-friendly communities, and include the construction of an elderly-friendly society as an important part of the selection of civilized cities.
(21) Strengthen scientific research and international cooperation. Increase the support of national science and technology plans (special projects, funds, etc.) and social science funds for scientific and technological innovation, basic theories and policy research in the field of aging. Support research institutions and universities to set up think tanks for research on aging. Promote cross-field, cross-department, and cross-level sharing of elderly-related data, and improve the statistical survey and release system of elderly living conditions. Actively participate in global and regional governance of ageing issues, and promote the effective connection between the implementation of the national strategy to actively respond to population ageing and the implementation of the relevant goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
8. Strengthen organization and implementation
(22) Strengthen the party’s leadership over the work on aging. Party committees and governments at all levels must attach great importance to and do a good job in aging work, insist that the main party and government leaders personally grasp and take overall responsibility, put the key tasks of aging work in the important agenda, include economic and social development plans, and include people’s livelihood projects. The scope of work supervision and performance appraisal. Increase institutional innovation, policy supply, and financial investment, improve the aging work system, and strengthen the allocation of grass-roots forces. Give full play to the role of urban and rural grass-roots party organizations and grass-roots autonomous organizations, organize and implement the work on aging, so that each level is accountable and everyone is responsible for everything. Build a team of aging working cadres with strong party spirit, good style, and strong abilities. Comprehensively use the evaluation results of the ability to respond to population aging, and do a comprehensive assessment of aging work.
(Twenty-three) Implement work responsibilities. The National Committee on Aging should strengthen the coordination and coordination functions of aging work, and strengthen the capacity building of its administrative agencies. The health department must establish and improve the health support system for the elderly, organize and promote the integration of medical care, and organize the development of disease prevention, medical care, mental health and care services and other health work for the elderly. The development and reform department shall formulate and organize the implementation of plans for the elderly care service system, promote the integration of the development of the elderly undertakings and industries with the national development plan and annual plan, and promote the development of the elderly care service industry. The civil affairs department shall coordinate the advancement, supervise and guide, supervise and manage the old-age service work, formulate and organize the implementation of old-age service system policies and standards, and undertake the welfare of the elderly and the rescue of the elderly in special difficulties. Education, science and technology, industry and information technology, public security, finance, human resources and social security, natural resources, housing and urban-rural construction, business, culture and tourism, finance, taxation, market supervision, sports, medical security and other departments should be based on the division of responsibilities and earnestly Perform duties, act proactively, solve problems encountered in the work in a timely manner, and form a working mechanism of joint management and overall advancement.
(24) Extensively mobilize social participation. Pay attention to the role of trade unions, Communist Youth League, Women’s Federation, Disabled Persons’ Federation and other groups and related social organizations for the elderly, government agencies, enterprises and institutions, and carry out aging work based on their respective functions to form a work pattern in which the whole society participates. Give full play to the role of the China Association of Senior Citizens in promoting the development of the cause of the elderly, and enhance the capacity of the grassroots associations for the elderly. Timely sum up and popularize advanced and typical experience in aging work.