Provide strong legal guarantees for the elderly to support and rely on the elderly

Source: People's Daily - People's Daily

"Strengthen the planning and construction requirements of old-age service facilities, promote the coordinated development of home-based community institutions and the combination of medical and health care, and improve the training and incentive policies for old-age service personnel..." The 34th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th People's Congress of Jiangxi Province deliberated and passed the "Jiangxi Provincial Old-age Service Regulations" (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations"), which was officially implemented on January 1, 2022.

"The Regulations are based on reality and focus on the future, and draw a 'hard lever' for promoting the high-quality development of the elderly care service industry in Jiangxi Province." Hu Shizhong, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the Jiangxi Provincial People's Congress, introduced that the promulgation of the "Regulations" has provided a strong legal guarantee for the local promotion of supporting the elderly and relying on the elderly.

Legislation to solve the "three difficulties" of the elderly

"'Old before getting rich' and 'getting old before being prepared' are becoming more and more obvious, and in recent years, the aging situation in Jiangxi Province has shown the characteristics of rapid growth, empty nesting, and many elderly people with disability and dementia." Talking about the aging trend of the local population, Ren Xinhua, director of the Pension Service Division of the Civil Affairs Department of Jiangxi Province, opened the door to the mountain. By the end of 2020, the aging rate of Jiangxi's population reached 16.87%, an increase of 5.43% over 2010.

"We have included old-age services in the key topics of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, and regularly organize research on old-age services to find gaps and explore the situation." Han Yan, vice chairman of the Social Construction Committee of the Jiangxi Provincial People's Congress (hereinafter referred to as the Social Committee), said.

"The long board is not long, the short board is too short", Ren Xinhua bluntly said in the survey, Jiangxi pension services have "three difficulties" - difficult to use land, difficult to use people, difficult to use money. At the end of 2019, the Social Committee of the Jiangxi Provincial People's Congress and the Pension Service Department of the Civil Affairs Department of Jiangxi Province "teamed up" for two months to carry out intensive research inside and outside the province.

"Jiangxi Province has reached the national standard for land for old-age services per capita, but due to the tight supply of land in urban built-up areas and economic factors, many old-age institutions have been built in remote areas far from the residence of the elderly, and no matter how big and good they are, the elderly are not willing to go." Ren Xinhua said, "Many cities are facing the contradiction between supply and demand of pension land. ”

"The beds inside are empty and no one lives, the elderly outside are waiting in a long line to enter, and the pension institutions are not accepted", the "strange phenomenon" reflected by the masses in the survey caused the research group to think.

"There are not enough professional nursing staff to pick up at all." Some agency heads explained why.

In 2021, there will be less than 20,000 professional nursing personnel for the elderly in Jiangxi Province, and there is still a gap between the scientific and reasonable ratio of the elderly population. It is understood that with the acceleration of the aging trend, the number of elderly people with disability and dementia has increased, and the demand for professional nursing has become increasingly diversified.

"The shortcomings of facilities are easy to make up, and the shortage of talents is difficult to handle." The number of elderly care talents cultivated by colleges and universities in Jiangxi Province is small and the level is not high, and the problem of difficult recruitment and retention of talents in pension institutions is common. Ren Xinhua introduced that the "Regulations" have responded positively to solving the "three difficulties" faced by the elderly.

"It is necessary to guarantee the land for old-age services as planning schools and hospitals"

According to Hu Shizhong, the Standing Committee of the Jiangxi Provincial People's Congress and the local Department of Civil Affairs, the Department of Justice, and other departments have established a normalized communication mechanism, and have maintained close communication at all stages from the drafting of the "Regulations."

From February to June 2021, the Civil Affairs Department of Jiangxi Province completed the solicitation and revision of the opinions and suggestions on the first draft, and the Social Committee intervened in the legislation in advance to quickly launch a new round of research inside and outside the province.

"Legislative research should be both targeted and extensive." Liu Yongliang, deputy director of the Legislative Affairs Committee of the Standing Committee of the Jiangxi Provincial People's Congress, said that during this period, more than 10 forums and demonstration meetings were held, covering many fields and different groups of people. "The formulation of the Regulations is a process of focusing on the main issues and solving difficult problems, and it is necessary to extensively listen to and absorb the opinions and suggestions of all parties." Liu Yongliang said.

"It is necessary to guarantee the land for old-age services like planning schools and hospitals", and in the legislative work, this view has resonated with everyone.

In areas where the proportion of the elderly exceeds 20%, the per capita land use standard is not less than 0.2 square meters; planning is carried out in accordance with the principles of medical and nursing care integration, nearby convenience, relative concentration and reasonable layout; the use of idle office buildings, schools, factories, etc. is transformed and built into old-age service facilities; residential areas should be supported by the construction of public welfare old-age service facilities; natural resources departments should verify whether they meet the planning conditions... Liu Yongliang gave reporters an article-by-article interpretation of the "Regulations" on the planning and construction of facilities, "to protect the land, to clarify the public welfare attributes, to clarify the responsibilities of the planning and acceptance supervision department, to form a legal closed loop, all dry goods!" ”

In view of the problem of "difficulty in employing people", the "Regulations" have a separate chapter, from the establishment and improvement of the personnel training system, to the identification of skill levels, to the giving of rewards or subsidies, some people figuratively say that the various provisions cover the "hair" of practitioners to the "tip of the toe".

"Effective" - The Jiangxi Provincial People's Congress compares these 3 words to the truth. The general provisions of the Regulations stipulate that "a stable and effective funding guarantee mechanism shall be established". The original expression was "to establish a stable funding guarantee mechanism".

"Don't underestimate these 3 words, aging is intensifying, and the 'stable' funding guarantee may not be effective in the future," Liu Yongliang said, adding that the Regulations make it clear from the law that "stable" funding investment is still "effective" investment.

Open up the "last kilometer" of rural old-age care services

Walking into the Jiangxi Xinyuyu Water District Special Hardship disabled elderly care service center, the intelligent management platform on the big screen, the intelligent signs monitoring data of the elderly, the list of nursing lists and other situations at a glance.

Not long ago, Hu Xiuying, an 83-year-old man who moved from the Town Respect for the Elderly Home, completed a light rehabilitation exercise under the guidance of a nursing staff and was preparing to build puzzle building blocks. "I'll retire here from now on!" She said happily.

Yushui District has transformed the idle properties in the central urban area into a 3,800-square-meter pension place, and currently houses 53 elderly people with special poverty and disability, and 52 elderly people with social disabilities. Ren Xinhua said: "The extremely poor and disabled elderly are vulnerable groups, there is a rigid demand for old-age care, and legislation must reflect the public welfare of old-age services and the superiority of the socialist system." ”

Ren Xinhua introduced that the original first draft of the "Regulations" only generally proposed to strengthen the construction of public pension institutions, and did not make specific provisions. After repeated revisions and discussions, in order to highlight the special care for specific groups, the Regulations finally make it clear that the construction and transformation of centralized care institutions for the elderly with special hardship and disability will be supported to ensure the service needs of the elderly such as widows and widows with economic difficulties, incapacitated, elderly age, and special families with family planning.

According to reports, in order to open up the "last kilometer" of rural old-age services, in recent years, Jiangxi has strengthened party building to lead rural old-age services, and built 13,120 rural mutual aid old-age service facilities, covering 77.6% of administrative villages, benefiting 1.6 million elderly people, and achieved remarkable results.

Jiangxi has written this successful exploration into the "Regulations": the construction of rural old-age service facilities will be included in the strategic planning of rural revitalization, and the balanced layout of urban and rural old-age service facilities should be promoted; idle school buildings, collective houses, private houses and other resources should be used to develop rural mutual assistance old-age services in administrative villages and larger natural villages according to local conditions, and establish and improve the funding guarantee and operation management system.

"Another highlight of the Regulations is that they are full of details, enforceable and operable." Liu Yongliang said.

Article 15 of the Regulations stipulates that the old-age service facilities supporting the construction of residential areas shall be arranged in a reasonable position and arranged on the lower floor of the building, and barrier-free elevators shall be set up on the second floor or above of the building; they shall not be arranged in the underground, semi-underground and mezzanine floors. So, what exactly does "residential area" mean? The Supplementary Provisions of the Ordinance specifically define the area in which a residential area is divided on the basis that residents can meet their basic living needs on foot for five minutes. Liu Yongliang said that detailed and specific provisions can make the Regulations more operational and more effective.

People's Daily ( 2022-01-20 18th edition)