ICN sends message of support to nurses in China and elsewhere who are tackling Coronavirus
The President of the International Council of Nurses (ICN), Annette Kennedy, has written to the President of the Chinese Nursing Association (CNA), Dr. Wu Xinjuan, offering support to nurses working to alleviate suffering and control the spread of the Coronavirus outbreak in China. Ms. Kennedy wrote, “Please convey my admiration and solidarity to all the nurses in the region who are continuing to work in such difficult circumstances. 'Providing nursing care to people with such a severe infection carries risks, and I hope your colleagues will stay safe and well while they carry out their duties so selflessly. Assisting individuals and families to deal with this situation is an essential and critically valuable service provided by nurses. I commend you all.” ICN CEO, Howard Catton said that ICN was closely monitoring the situation and was in contact with the Chinese Nursing Association and the World Health Organization. He praised the work and courage of nurses on the frontline of both treating and preventing . . . read more
China's elderly care institutions urged to step up coronavirus prevention
China's Ministry of Civil Affairs has issued a guideline for the novel coronavirus prevention and control at elderly care institutions, urging them to step up prevention efforts amid the virus outbreak. Elderly care institutions across the country should suspend receiving unnecessary visitors, volunteer services and social activities, and those who visit elderly care institutions under special circumstances should report their travel history, wear face masks and have their temperature checked, according to the guideline. Elderly care institutions were asked to supply food to all their residents and stop receiving food sent by visiting relatives of the elderly. People working at elderly care institutions were asked to wear face masks and are banned from visiting markets that sell live animals. The guideline also demanded necessary monitoring, medical observation and . . . . . read more
Beijing eldercare facilities on lockdown amid outbreak
All elderly care facilities in Beijing have been on lockdown since Monday and are not allowed to receive any visits to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus outbreak, the Beijing Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau said on Sunday. Elderly people living in the facilities cannot go outside and the facility cannot admit any new elderly people, the bureau said. Facility staff should adopt epidemic prevention and control measure and quarantine for elderly people who need medical treatment outside the facilities, the bureau said. The bureau will determine when to lift the lockdown based on read more China Daily
Young Chinese more aware of elderly care issues
Young people in China are more aware of the issues regarding elderly care and more of them are making early preparations, according to a survey by China Youth Daily. Among 1,876 surveyed people aged 18 to 35, 52.1 percent have bought insurance for themselves or their parents in preparation for life after retirement. Some of them said they had bought insurance for fear that they wouldn't be able to afford the elderly care services they or their parents would need after retirement. For many of them, medical service expenditures remain a major concern. Wang Yuanyuan (pseudonym,) an interviewee from Tianjin, said her father's heart operation cost her family more than 100,000 yuan (about 15,000 US dollars). For this reason, apart from purchasing insurance, many interviewees also chose to take better care of their own health, or encourage their families to do so. About 57.1 percent of the interviewees urged their elderly family members to take part in medical examinations on a regular basis, and 47.8 percent opted . . . . read more in China Daily
China’s median age will soon overtake America’s
Shortly after 9am the neighbourhood care centre for the elderly shuffles to life. One man belts out a folk song. A centenarian sits by his Chinese chessboard, awaiting an opponent. A virtual-reality machine, which lets users experience such exotic adventures as grocery shopping and taking the subway, sits unused in the corner. A bigger attraction is the morning exercise routine—a couple of dozen people limbering up their creaky joints. They are the leading edge of China’s rapid ageing, a trend that is already starting to constrain its economic potential. Since the care centre opened half a year ago in Changning, in central Shanghai, more than 12,000 elderly people from the area have passed through its doors. The city launched these centres in 2014, combining health clinics, drop-in facilities and old-people’s homes. It plans to have 400 by 2022. “We can’t wait. We’ve got to do everything in our ability to build these now,” says Peng Yanli, a community . . . . read more in The Economist
China offers incentives to develop elderly care in face of ‘alarming’ population ageing
China is growing old at an alarming rate, at an inopportune time. Projections estimate China’s elderly population will be larger than that of the United States by 2020, the surge coming at a time when family ties are weakening as urbanisation and all that it represents shifts the family dynamic. Senior care facilities are rare in China, and many that have heard of such facilities are not eager to move there. Yet, in late 2014, China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) and Ministry of Commerce jointly announced they had opened up the for-profit senior care institution and services industry for investment, hoping that international investment will help deliver the senior care services needed before the country’s old-age dependency gets too great. “Demographic and socioeconomic changes are happening so rapidly that the traditional way of family care for the elderly in China is getting seriously strained,” says Feng Zhanlian, senior research analyst at research institute RTI International. “More than three decades of one-child family policy have made the situation even worse. So the demand is clear and running high.” One of the more attractive incentives that the government is offering is the opportunity to operate the business as a “wholly foreign-owned” enterprise. In the past, . . . . read more in The South China Morning Post
