CCTV News: On the afternoon of January 9, 2025 (Thursday), the State Council Information Office held a press conference to invite Deputy Minister of Civil Affairs Tang Chengpei and relevant officials from the National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs to introduce relevant measures to deepen the reform and development of elderly care services and answer questions from reporters.

Tang Chengpei, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, introduced that home, community and institutional elderly care has now become the main form of elderly care services in our society. The "Opinions" released this time focus on promoting the integration and coordination of three types of elderly care services. While further clarifying the functions and functions of various types of elderly care services, it strengthens the coordination and linkage of various elderly care services in the all-round needs, life cycle and life scenarios of the elderly so that the elderly can enjoy convenient and accessible services, whether in their families, communities, or institutions.

The "Opinions" proposes that the basic role of home-based elderly care should be consolidated. Home care is a traditional habit and common wish of most elderly people. The "Opinions" summarizes the successful experience of elderly care services since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, proposes the reform direction of improving elderly care services policies that can be felt and accessible by the elderly, and proposes a series of measures from improving family elderly care support policies, actively cultivating professional service institutions, and promoting the construction of aging. It is also necessary to promote the cultivation of more professional door-to-door services to make elderly care at home and at ease.

The "Opinions" proposes that the role of community elderly care should be strengthened. The community is the basic unit of society and is also the home for the elderly to live in peace and well-being, bringing together various service resources needed by the elderly. The "Opinions" emphasize the need to rely on the community to provide effective support for home-based elderly care. The community plays a social support role in home-based elderly care, and also plays a role in linking social resources. On the one hand, we will expand the effective supply of community elderly care services, propose measures such as developing embedded community elderly care services, promoting "community + property + elderly care services", and promoting complete community construction; on the other hand, we will strengthen the connection between supply and demand for elderly care services at the community level, and propose measures such as exploring "oldering consultant" services and village (community) "two committees" regard serving the elderly as an important responsibility, so that the service needs of the elderly can be responded in a timely manner in the community and try our best to meet the elderly's needs for elderly care in a familiar community environment. The community "holds two companies with one hand and is the leader of the company." On the one hand, we must provide services in depth in the family, and on the other hand, we must link social resources. At the same time, the community also provides support for the elderly in full day care, learning and entertainment.

The "Opinions" proposes that it is necessary to optimize the support role of institutions in elderly care. Compared with home and community elderly care, although institutional elderly care accounts for a small proportion of elderly care, its functional role is irreplaceable. Based on the past functional positioning such as "institutions as support" and "institutions as supplements", the "Opinions" further proposed the "professional support role" of institutional elderly care, and made a clearer and more accurate positioning of institutional elderly care. On the one hand, the classification reform of nursing homes is promoted according to local conditions, and the functional positioning and operation mechanism of the bottom-line guarantee, universal support, and fully market-oriented nursing homes have been clarified, and the realization of hierarchical and classified and diversified precise supply has been promoted. The "Opinions" also proposes to improve the operation mechanism of public nursing homes, develop long-term care and care services for elderly people with cognitive impairments, guide nursing homes to actively accept disabled elderly people, and explore measures to optimize the elderly care functions of "elderly parents + disabled children" families living in nursing homes. On the other hand, we must give full play to the role of technical innovation demonstration, service skills training, equipment promotion and application of elderly care institutions, and promote the extension of professional services to home and community. In the future, nursing homes should not only be more professional in centralized care, but also participate more actively in home and community elderly care services, promote the large-scale, clustered and branded development of elderly care services, and build hub-type and open professional service institutions.

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The Ministry of Civil Affairs interprets the "Opinions on Deepening the Reform and Development of Elderly Care Services": Let all the elderly enjoy a happy old age