Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Strengthening Aging Work in the New Era
(November 18, 2021)
Effectively responding to the aging of my country’s population is related to the overall development of the country, the well-being of hundreds of millions of people, and social harmony and stability. For It is of great significance to comprehensively build a modern socialist country. In order to implement the national strategy of actively responding to population aging, strengthen aging work in the new era, and enhance the sense of gain, happiness, and security of the elderly, the following opinions are hereby put forward.
1. Overall requirements
(1) Guiding ideology. Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we must thoroughly implement the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Plenary Sessions of the 19th Central Committee, strengthen the Party’s overall leadership over aging work, and adhere to the principle of We should put the people at the center, integrate the development of the cause of aging into the overall planning and promotion of the "Five-in-One" overall layout and coordinate the promotion of the "Four Comprehensives" strategic layout, implement the national strategy of actively responding to population aging, and integrate the concept of positive aging and healthy aging into the economy and society Throughout the development process, we will 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, promote the coordinated development of elderly care services, health services, social security, social participation, and rights protection, and promote high-quality aging services. development and find a path with Chinese characteristics to actively respond to the aging of the population.
(2) Working principles
- Adhere to the leadership of the party committee and the participation of all parties. Under the leadership of the party committee, the government will give full play to its leading role in promoting the development of the cause of aging, engage in social participation, and take action by the whole people to 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 for the elderly and individual self-care, and form a new situation in which multiple entities share responsibilities, respond to aging risks in a cascade, and everyone participates in the cause of aging.
——Adhere to systematic planning and comprehensive policy implementation. We must adhere to the combination of responding to population aging and promoting economic and social development, insisting on combining meeting the needs of the elderly with solving the problem of population aging, ensuring that the goals of various policies and systems are consistent, functionally coordinated, and connected, and striving to achieve the goal of providing for the elderly and providing them with adequate services. We provide medical care, do something for the elderly, learn something for the elderly, and enjoy themselves for the elderly, so that the elderly can share the fruits of reform and development and enjoy a happy old age.
——Adhere to the integration of resources and coordinated development. Build an elderly care service system and a health support system that coordinate home and community institutions and combine medical and health care, vigorously develop inclusive elderly care services, and promote a balanced allocation of resources. Promote the coordinated development of aging undertakings and industries, basic public services and diversified services, and coordinate institutional arrangements such as economic security, service security, spiritual care, and role play for the elderly.
——Adhere to highlighting key points and strengthening the grassroots level. Focus on solving the most pressing issues of health care for the elderly, insist on ensuring basics, promoting fairness, improving quality, doing our best and within our capabilities, and ensuring that everyone has access to basic elderly care services and public health services. Promote the shift of focus and resources on aging work, and promote the gathering of high-quality service resources around the elderly, at home and around them, to ensure that there are people to handle the work of the elderly, to take care of the affairs of the elderly, and to help the elderly with difficulties.
2. Improve the elderly care service system
(3) Innovate the home and community elderly care service model. Based on home-based elderly care, we will improve community elderly care service capabilities through new construction, renovation, leasing, etc., focus on developing a two-level elderly care service network at the streets (townships) and urban and rural communities, and rely on the community to develop diversified home-based elderly care services. Local governments are responsible for exploring and promoting the establishment of models that extend professional agency services to communities and families. Street communities are responsible for introducing professional institutions that serve the elderly in terms of meal assistance, cleaning assistance, etc., and community organizations introduce relevant professional nursing institutions to carry out home care for the elderly; the government strengthens organization and supervision. The government should cultivate professional institutions that serve the elderly and guide their standardized development, guiding them to provide sustained and stable services in accordance with the principle of maintaining capital and making small profits.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. In conjunction with the implementation of the rural revitalization strategy, we will strengthen the construction of rural elderly care service institutions and facilities, and encourage the development of mutual-help elderly care services based on village-level neighborhood mutual aid points and rural happiness homes.
(4) Further standardize the development of institutional elderly care. All localities should develop institutional elderly care through direct construction, entrusted operation, purchase of services, and encouragement of social investment. Strengthen the construction of Guangrongyuan. Public elderly care institutions give priority to accepting people with financial difficulties who are disabled (including dementia, the same below), orphans, widows, disabled, elderly people, elderly people from special family planning families, and elderly people who have made important contributions to society, and provide services that meet quality and safety standards. elderly care services. Establish and improve standards and evaluation systems for elderly care services, and strengthen supervision of the construction and operation of elderly care institutions. Study and formulate policies for the management of prepaid service fees for elderly care institutions, and strictly prevent money trapping and fraud in the name of elderly care institutions.
(5) Establish a basic elderly care service list system. All localities should formulate a list of basic elderly care services based on their financial affordability, and provide appropriate services such as elderly care security, daily care, rehabilitation care, and social assistance to different elderly groups such as those who are healthy, disabled, and have financial difficulties. The list should clearly define service objects, service content, service standards and expenditure responsibilities, and make dynamic adjustments based on economic and social development and scientific and technological progress. Before the end of 2022, a comprehensive assessment system for the elderly's abilities will be established, and the assessment results will be mutually recognized across departments across the country.
(6) Improve the multi-level pension security system. Expand the coverage of pension insurance and gradually achieve full coverage of basic pension insurance for statutory personnel. Achieve national coordination of basic pension insurance for enterprise employees as soon as possible. Improve the basic pension insurance benefit adjustment mechanism to ensure the basic living standards of those receiving benefits. Vigorously develop enterprise (occupational) annuities and promote and standardize the development of the third pillar pension insurance. Explore ways to increase the income of rural elderly through asset income support systems.
3. Improve the health support system for the elderly
(7) Improve the level of health services and management for the elderly. Strengthen the publicity and education of health knowledge for the elderly in urban and rural communities to improve the health literacy of the elderly. Provide health management services for the elderly and traditional Chinese medicine health management services in the national basic public health service projects. Strengthen early screening, intervention and classified guidance for key chronic diseases in the elderly, and carry out actions on elderly oral health, elderly nutrition improvement, Alzheimer's prevention and psychological care. Increase the coverage of family doctor contract services for the disabled, seriously ill, elderly, low-income and other elderly people, and improve service quality. Expand the scope of home medical services provided by medical consortiums such as home beds and door-to-door visits. Relevant medical expenses can be reimbursed in accordance with regulations, and door-to-door service fees are charged based on costs. Actively play the role of grassroots medical and health institutions in providing high-quality traditional Chinese medicine services to the elderly. Strengthen the construction of the national geriatric medical center and lay out several regional geriatric medical centers. Strengthen the construction of geriatric medicine departments in general hospitals. By 2025, the proportion of geriatric medicine departments in second-level and above comprehensive hospitals will reach more than 60%. Through new construction, reconstruction, expansion, and transformation and development, we will strengthen the construction of geriatric hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals, nursing homes (centers, stations), and special care hospitals, and establish a two-way referral mechanism for medical treatment, rehabilitation, and nursing. Accelerate the construction of age-friendly medical institutions to facilitate the elderly to seek medical treatment.
(8) Strengthen long-term care services and protection for disabled elderly people. Improve the long-term care service model from professional institutions to communities and families. In accordance with the relevant requirements for the implementation of national basic public health service projects, health assessment and health services for disabled elderly people are carried out. Relying on medical and health institutions such as nursing homes (centers and stations), community health service centers, township health centers, and elderly care service institutions with service capabilities, long-term care services are provided for disabled elderly people. Develop "Internet + care services" and actively develop home-based elderly care beds and nursing care beds to facilitate the care of disabled elderly people. Steady expansion of palliative care pilot projects.Steadyly advance the pilot program of the long-term care insurance system, and guide local governments to focus on further clarifying the scope of insurance and protection, continuing to improve diversified financing mechanisms, improving scientific and reasonable treatment policies, improving treatment payment and other related standards and management methods, innovative management and service mechanisms, etc. , increase exploration efforts, improve existing pilot projects, and actively explore the establishment of a long-term care insurance system suitable for my country's national conditions.
(9) Deeply promote 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 and nursing care. Encourage medical and health institutions to enter into agreements and cooperation with elderly care institutions to further integrate and optimize primary medical care and elderly care resources, and provide services such as medical treatment, rehabilitation care, and daily care. Support the transformation of secondary and lower medical institutions in areas with rich medical resources to provide rehabilitation, nursing and integrated medical and nursing care services. Encourage the grassroots to actively explore the on-demand standardized conversion mechanism of nursing beds and medical beds in relevant institutions. Based on the characteristics of serving the elderly, the medical insurance limits of medical institutions run by nursing homes shall be reasonably determined. By the end of 2025, each county (city, district, banner) will have more than one county-level support service agency for extremely poor people with the function of integrating medical care and nursing care. If qualified family members of disabled elderly people participate in nursing knowledge and other related vocational skills training, they will be given vocational training subsidies in accordance with regulations. Create a number of demonstration projects integrating medical and nursing care.
4. Promote the social participation of the elderly
(10) Expand the supply of educational resources for the elderly. Integrate education for the elderly into the lifelong education system, and the education department will take the lead in researching and formulating policies and measures for the development of education for the elderly, and adopt measures such as promoting qualified schools to carry out education for the elderly and supporting social forces to organize universities (schools) for the elderly to promote the expansion of the supply of education resources for the elderly. Encourage qualified universities and vocational colleges to open majors and courses related to geriatric education, and strengthen the construction of disciplines and majors and personnel training. Compile teaching materials related to geriatric education. Relying on the Open University of China, we are preparing to build a National University for the Elderly and build a national education resource sharing and public service platform for the elderly. Innovate mechanisms to promote universities for the elderly organized by departments, industries, enterprises, and universities to open their education to the society. Give full play to the role of community party organizations and guide the elderly to practice positive aging.
(11) Improve the quality of cultural and sports services for the elderly. All localities should revitalize resources such as vacant houses, parks, shopping malls, support street communities to actively provide cultural and sports activities venues for the elderly, organize cultural and sports activities, and achieve the integration of entertainment, fitness, culture, learning, consumption, and exchanges for the elderly. . Cultivate grassroots cultural and sports backbones to serve the elderly and improve the participation rate and quality of cultural and sports activities for the elderly. Culture, tourism, sports and other departments must do a good job in standardization and management. Develop elderly tourism products and routes and improve the quality and level of elderly tourism services. Counties (cities, districts, and banners) should integrate existing resources and set up educational, cultural, fitness, and communication venues suitable for the elderly.
(12) Encourage older people to continue to play a role. We should combine a career for the elderly with a pension for the elderly, improve employment, volunteer services, community governance and other policies and measures, and give full play to the role of the younger elderly. In schools, hospitals and other units and in industries such as community housekeeping services and public place service management, explore flexible employment models suitable for the elderly. Encourage all localities to establish an information database for senior citizens to provide job introduction, vocational skills training and innovation and entrepreneurship guidance services for seniors who are willing to work. We will carry out in-depth "Silver Age Action" to guide the elderly to actively participate in grassroots democratic supervision, changing customs, civil mediation, culture, education and health and other activities in the form of volunteer services. Give full play to the active role of the elderly in family education and inheritance of family tradition. Strengthen the construction of grassroots party organizations for retired cadres and workers, encourage old party members to transfer organizational relationships to their regular residences in a timely manner, guide old party members to play their roles based on their own actual conditions, and do a good job in spiritual care and ideological guidance for the elderly. Comprehensively clear up unreasonable regulations that prevent the elderly from continuing to play their roles.
5. Efforts to build an age-friendly society
(13) Strengthen the protection of the rights and interests of the elderly. When formulating specific measures involving the interests of the elderly, various localities should solicit the opinions of the elderly.Establish and improve early warning, investigation, and mediation mechanisms for conflicts and disputes involving the elderly, marriage, family, and infringement. Strengthen the publicity and publicity on the protection of the rights and interests of the elderly, raise their awareness of using legal means to protect their rights and interests, improve their ability to detect 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 for law firms, notary agencies, and grassroots legal service agencies to reduce or reduce legal service fees for the elderly and provide door-to-door services for the elderly with limited mobility. Establish an elderly-friendly litigation service mechanism to provide guarantees for the elderly to conveniently participate in litigation activities.
(14) Create a livable environment for the elderly. All localities must implement regulations, standards and norms for the construction of barrier-free environments, and integrate the construction of barrier-free environments and aging-friendly renovations into the overall planning and promotion of urban renewal, renovation of old urban communities, renovation of dilapidated rural buildings, and improvement of rural living environment, so as to allow the elderly to participate in society Activities are safer and more convenient. Encourage qualified places to carry out barrier-free and age-appropriate renovations, equip living assistive devices, install emergency rescue facilities, and conduct regular visits to families of disabled, disabled, elderly and other elderly people with financial difficulties. Guide various localities to introduce aging-friendly renovation standards for homes based on actual conditions, and encourage more families to carry out aging-friendly renovations. While encouraging the promotion of new technologies and new methods, we should retain the traditional service methods that the elderly are familiar with, and accelerate the aging-friendly transformation of Internet applications, mobile terminals, and APP applications commonly used by the elderly. Implement the “Smart Elderly Assistance” 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 population aging. Implement the inheritance and innovation project of the Chinese culture of filial piety and respect for the elderly. We will continue to promote the "Respect the Elderly Month" series of activities and the creation of the "Respect the Elderly Civilization" activity, and combine the selection of role models of the times and moral models to select and commend advanced models of filial piety and respect for the elderly. Volunteer services for senior citizens will be incorporated into comprehensive practical activities in primary and secondary schools and practical content for college students. Strengthen the work of preferential treatment for the elderly. On the basis of travel convenience, bus ride discounts, ticket exemptions, etc., encourage qualified places to further expand preferential treatment projects and innovate preferential treatment methods, set up preferential treatment signs for the elderly in eye-catching locations, and promote the elderly with ID cards, etc. Valid documents enjoy various preferential policies. Where conditions permit, it is necessary to actively implement projects in which seniors from other places enjoy equal local preferential treatment. Give full play to the role of radio, television and online audio-visual media, strengthen publicity and guidance, and create a good social atmosphere of respecting the elderly.
6. Actively cultivate the silver economy
(16) Strengthen planning and guidance. Formulate relevant special plans, improve the support policy system, and coordinate the development of the elderly industry. Encourage all localities to take advantage of their resource endowments to develop characteristic aging industries with comparative advantages. Coordinate and utilize existing funding channels to support the development of the elderly industry.
(17) Develop industries suitable for the elderly. Relevant departments should formulate catalogs and quality standards for elderly products and services, and promote the certification of elderly care services. All localities should promote the standardized development of the food, medicine and elderly products industries that are closely related to the lives of the elderly, improve the functions and quality of traditional elderly care products, and meet the special needs of the elderly. Enterprises and scientific research institutions should increase their efforts in R&D and manufacturing of elderly products, support the transformation of key technological achievements and service innovation of elderly products, and actively develop intelligent, auxiliary and rehabilitation products suitable for the elderly to meet the needs of the elderly to improve their lives. Quality needs. Enterprises are encouraged to set up counters and experience stores that integrate online and offline services to serve the elderly, and vigorously develop new models and new business formats that integrate elderly care-related industries. Commercial insurance institutions are encouraged to develop health insurance products for the elderly on the premise of controllable risks and sustainable business. Market supervision and other departments must 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 consumer rights of the elderly, and create a safe, convenient, and honest consumption environment.
7. Strengthen job security for the elderly
(18) Strengthen the construction of the talent team. Accelerate the construction of professional technical, social service, business management, scientific research talents and volunteer teams that meet the needs of aging work in the new era.Employers must effectively guarantee the wages and benefits of elderly care service personnel, establish a wage distribution mechanism based on job value, ability and quality, and performance contribution, and enhance the attractiveness of elderly care service positions. Vigorously develop relevant vocational education and carry out elderly care services and nursing training training. For medical staff working in medical institutions run by nursing homes, relevant incentive policies for grassroots medical staff may be implemented with reference.
(19) Strengthen the supply of facilities for the elderly. Relevant departments in all regions must follow the requirements of the "National Mid- and Long-term Plan for Active Response to Population Aging" to strengthen the construction of facilities for the elderly and accelerate the realization of goals such as nursing beds in nursing homes and universities (schools) for the elderly. All localities should formulate and issue standards and implementation details for the establishment of supporting elderly care service facilities in newly built urban areas, newly built residential areas, old urban areas and established residential areas, and implement the requirements for the establishment of elderly care service facilities. Newly built urban areas and newly built residential areas will be equipped with supporting elderly care service facilities in accordance with standard requirements to achieve full coverage. By 2025, a number of elderly care service facilities will be built in old cities and established residential areas in conjunction with the renovation of old urban communities and shortcomings in residential area construction, and the "quarter-of-an-hour" home elderly care service circle will be gradually improved. Rely on and integrate existing resources to develop neighborhood (township) regional elderly care service centers or elderly service complexes, coordinate relevant policies and funds in accordance with regulations, and provide comprehensive services for the elderly. Explore the centralized layout, co-construction and sharing of service facilities for the elderly and children.
(20) Improve relevant support policies. To adapt to the funding needs for the development of causes for the elderly in the coming period, improve the fiscal investment policy and multi-channel financing mechanism for the development of causes for the elderly, continue to increase investment support within the central budget, and further increase the amount of funds used by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and local governments at all levels for social welfare programs The proportion of lottery public welfare funds used for elderly care services. All localities must coordinate the development of aging undertakings and increase financial investment. All relevant departments must make good use of relevant funds and resources to actively support aging work. Research and formulate housing and other support policies, improve tiered electricity price, water price, and gas price policies, encourage adult children to live nearby or live together with their elderly parents, fulfill support obligations, and assume care responsibilities. Members of zero-employment families with heavy support burdens will be given priority in public welfare positions in accordance with regulations. Implement relevant fiscal and taxation support policies and encourage various public welfare social organizations or charitable organizations to increase investment in causes for the elderly. Carry out national demonstration age-friendly community creation activities and incorporate the construction of age-friendly society into 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 theory and policy research in the field of aging. Support research institutions and universities in establishing think tanks on aging issues. Promote the sharing of elderly-related data across fields, departments, and levels, and improve the statistical survey and release system for the living conditions of the elderly. Actively participate in the global and regional governance of aging issues, and promote the effective integration of the implementation of the national strategy to actively respond to population aging and the implementation of relevant goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
8. Strengthen organization and implementation
(22) Strengthen the party’s leadership on aging work. Party committees and governments at all levels must attach great importance to and effectively do a good job in aging work, insist that the main party and government leaders personally take charge of it and take overall responsibility, and include key tasks of aging work in important agendas, economic and social development plans, people's livelihood practical projects, and Scope of work supervision and performance appraisal. We will increase institutional innovation, policy supply, and financial investment, improve the aging work system, and strengthen the deployment of grassroots forces. Give full play to the role of urban and rural grassroots party organizations and grassroots autonomous organizations, organize and implement aging work well, and ensure that every level has responsibility and someone is responsible for everything. Build a team of aging cadres with strong Party spirit, excellent work styles and excellent abilities. Comprehensively use the evaluation results of the ability to cope with population aging to conduct a comprehensive assessment of aging work.
(Twenty-three) Implement work responsibilities. The National Working Committee on Aging should strengthen its coordinating function for aging work and strengthen the capacity building of its offices.The health department must establish and improve the health support system for the elderly, organize and promote the integration of medical and nursing care, and organize and carry out health work for the elderly such as disease prevention and treatment, medical care, mental health and care services. The development and reform department must formulate and organize the implementation of plans for the elderly care service system, promote the connection between the development of elderly care and industry with the national development plan and annual plans, and promote the development of the elderly care service industry. The civil affairs department should coordinate the promotion, supervision, guidance, supervision and management of elderly care services, formulate policies and standards for the elderly care service system and organize their implementation, and be responsible for the welfare of the elderly and the assistance of the elderly with special difficulties. Departments such as education, science and technology, industry and information technology, public security, finance, human resources and social security, natural resources, housing and urban-rural development, commerce, culture and tourism, finance, taxation, market supervision, sports, medical security and other departments must work conscientiously according to their division of responsibilities. Perform duties, take the initiative, promptly solve problems encountered at work, and form a working mechanism for joint management and overall advancement.
(Twenty-four) Extensive mobilization of social participation. Pay attention to the role of trade unions, Communist Youth League, Women's Federation, Disabled Persons' Federation and other mass organizations as well as social organizations related to the elderly, government agencies, enterprises and institutions, and carry out aging work based on their respective functions, forming a work pattern in which the whole society participates. Give full play to the role of the China Association on Aging in promoting the development of the cause of aging and enhance the capabilities of grassroots elderly associations. Timely summarize and promote advanced and typical experiences in aging work. (Xinhua News Agency)
