Carry out meal assistance services for the elderly according to local conditions

　General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "it is necessary to vigorously develop the cause of the elderly and the aging industry, and strengthen the construction of pension facilities in places where conditions permit, and actively carry out pension services." This year's "Government Work Report" proposed: "Strengthen the construction of urban and rural community pension service network". The "Opinions on Developing the Silver Economy and Improving the Well-being of the Elderly" issued by the General Office of the State Council in January emphasized the "expansion of meal assistance services for the elderly".

　　Many elderly people have a wide range of needs for meal assistance services. The reporter interviewed how to carry out community meal assistance services, so that the elderly can share the fruits of development and enjoy a happy old age.

Introduce cooperative enterprises

Specialization of meal assistance for the elderly

　　At noon, the food in the happy canteen of Jiuquhe Community, Shuinan Street, Zhanggong District, Ganzhou City, Jiangxi Province was fragrant, and more than 10 dishes of various dishes were served in the insulated compartment, steaming. The store manager, Huang Lanfang, greeted warmly: "Auntie, what do you want to eat today?"

　　"Serve eggplant and rice noodles. Li Manmei, a 90-year-old resident of the community, is a regular customer of the canteen.

　　"Three meals a day" is a "key little thing" related to the quality of life of the elderly. In order to promote the healthy development of meal assistance services for the elderly, Zhanggong District has explored the construction of community happiness canteen projects, emphasizing the participation of social forces, and improving the "happiness on the tip of the tongue" of the elderly.

　　"At present, there are more than 30 kinds of dishes provided in our canteen, and the price of the dishes is set according to the meat and vegetarian dishes, with different stall prices, the cheapest vegetables are only 3 yuan, and the highest meat dishes are 15 yuan, and they are free with a variety of side dishes for the elderly to taste. Huang Lanfang said that considering the taste of the elderly, the canteen prepares more light dishes with less oil and less salt. Currently, there are more than 200 elderly people eating in the canteen.

　　The Happy Canteen of Shuinan Street not only sets up a dining area for the elderly, but also has an activity center for the elderly, and adds cultural and recreational facilities such as newspaper shelves, chess and card tables, and book corners. "The biggest feature here is 'government guidance, government-enterprise cooperation, and professional operation'. Zhu Xueyan, deputy director of the Shuinan Sub-district Office, said, "Through the market operation model, the government provides the venue free of charge, and introduces the cooperation of third-party well-known catering companies to realize the professional operation of meal assistance for the elderly and develop more sustainably." ”

　　"Social forces are an important force involved in the development of meal services for the elderly. Zou Huayun, deputy director of the Zhanggong District Civil Affairs Bureau, said that at present, the social forces in the district are more willing to participate in the elderly and meals, and there are 33 community happy canteens in the district, of which 9 are directly operated by the government, 3 are indirectly operated, and 21 community happy canteens are operated by social forces. The district serves an average of 9,600 elderly people every day. At the same time, the implementation of the community happiness canteen star rating work, according to the public satisfaction and service person-times, the number of services and other indicators, to determine the annual star rating of the community canteen, and give a certain operating subsidy, to promote the enterprise to continuously improve the service level.

　　In March this year, 11 departments including the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Civil Affairs jointly issued the "Implementation Plan for Accelerating the Development of Meal Assistance Services for the Elderly", which requires focusing on the practical difficulties of the elderly in eating, adhering to the government's overall planning, giving full play to the role of market mechanisms, and actively building a meal service network for the elderly that covers urban and rural areas, has a reasonable layout, diversified participation, and is jointly built and shared. By the end of this year, 308 new urban meal centers will be added in Jiangxi Province, and rural areas will rely on existing mutual aid pension points to improve services.

　　Professor Zheng Qingjie, deputy dean of the School of History, Culture and Tourism of Gannan Normal University, believes that the government's establishment of a supply and demand docking platform and allowing more social forces to participate in elderly care services under the guidance of the market is a successful experience in the sustainable development of community elderly care. In the future, it is also necessary to subdivide the multi-level market of elderly care human resources, strengthen the construction of nursing teams, and activate multiple social entities to participate in the pension service.

Open up the "last mile" of distribution

Meals delivered to your doorstep

　　"The community canteen for the elderly is cheap and delicious, but my wife and I have inconvenient legs and feet, and it is difficult to go to the canteen to eat. Zhou Chu, an elderly resident of Xinqiao Town, Songjiang District, Shanghai, said, "I order food through my mobile phone, and I can order at any time and on call, which is very convenient, and I buy breakfast from the community canteen almost every day." ”

　　The Xinqiao Town Community Canteen for the Elderly cooperated with the takeaway platform to open up the "online ordering, offline delivery" service. According to the relevant staff of Songjiang District, the cost of packaging fees and third-party platform management fees is 3 yuan each time, which is first paid in advance by the community canteen for the elderly, and then transferred to Xinqiao Town by the subsidy of the district-level meal assistance venue, and then subsidized to the operator of the elderly canteen, and the elderly can enjoy free meal delivery services.

　　For some elderly people with limited mobility, not only is it not easy to buy vegetables and cook every day, but some elderly people also have difficulties in going out of their homes to eat in the community, and they look forward to more convenient community meal service services. The suburbs of Shanghai are large and the population is scattered, and the elderly living in the suburbs have a large demand for food delivery. Some regions have explored cooperation with third-party platforms to open up the "last mile" of meal delivery for the elderly, which has been welcomed by local residents.

　　The "Opinions on Developing the Silver Economy and Improving the Well-being of the Elderly" issued by the General Office of the State Council proposes to guide takeaway platforms, logistics enterprises and other business entities to participate in the distribution of meals for the elderly. The Regulations of Shanghai Municipality on Elderly Care Services clearly state that social catering enterprises, commercial retail enterprises and online ordering platforms will be supported to provide community meal assistance services for the elderly through government procurement of services and cooperation and co-construction.

　　Xinqiao Town, Songjiang District, Shanghai, has introduced social forces to create a "community canteen + takeaway delivery" model, which has become a new choice for the elderly in the community to care for the elderly at home and eat healthily. According to the relevant person in charge of Ele.me, they have established "helping to improve community services" as the platform's long-term social responsibility strategy. Over the past year or so, the platform has relied on government-enterprise cooperation to explore new models of meal assistance for the elderly in communities and streets in many cities.

　　According to reports, the takeaway platform will launch a more elderly-friendly elder model in 2021 - simplifying the interface, increasing the font size, and carrying out age-appropriate and barrier-free transformation. On this basis, a long-term cooperation has been reached with the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology to jointly launch the "Digital Technology Elderly Service Innovation Plan", which will carry out activities such as digital meal solution sharing, digital elderly assistance training, and digital silver age classroom in the community.

　　Wu Chaofeng, deputy secretary of the Party Committee and mayor of Xinqiao Town, believes that the government-enterprise cooperation effectively combines the organizational capabilities of the government and the professional capabilities of platform enterprises, solves social problems through digital thinking and market-oriented means, and hands over professional things to professional people to do, so as to promote the sustainable development of meal assistance services for the elderly.

Diversified synergy and common development

Achieve continuous operations

　　Uncle Gu, 84 years old this year, lives in an apartment for the elderly in Jinqiu Street, Boxing County, Binzhou City, Shandong Province. "Now, the canteen staff delivers the meal to the door of the apartment on time, the food is hot, and the heart is warm!" Uncle Gu said.

　　At lunchtime, I walked into the back kitchen of the Xiaoshan Canteen of the Jinqiu Street Comprehensive Elderly Care Service Center, and the staff was neatly packing the meals and preparing to send them to the homes of the elderly. In the dining area, the warm spring sun shines through the glass on the clean dining table, some elderly people are lining up with plates to eat, and some are sitting around the table, eating with relish.

　　Li Jinyan, director of the Jinqiu Street Comprehensive Elderly Care Service Center, said that last year, the canteen was officially opened, and the venue was provided free of charge by the street, and after the renovation was completed, it was handed over to the Boxing County Family Help Housekeeping Service Co., Ltd. for operation and management. There are two ways to provide meal assistance: the elderly with dexterous legs and feet can eat at the canteen, and the elderly with limited mobility can choose the door-to-door meal delivery service.

　　"Our research found that there are many lonely widows and elderly people living alone in the surrounding area, who are looking forward to eating a hot meal, but they are unable to move and their children are not around, so they often 'cook once, eat several meals', and their nutrition cannot keep up. Li Jinyan said.

　　In recent years, taking into account factors such as the size of the elderly population, the demand for meals and the service radius, Shandong Province has mobilized social forces to participate in the new construction and reconstruction, relying on the construction of the building, radiation-driven, chain operation and other ways to increase the supply of meal assistance services through multiple channels.

　　Ren Ruixin, director of the Boxing County Civil Affairs Bureau, introduced: "The government has special funds to support the meal service for the elderly, and at the same time explore the market-oriented operation mode and cooperate with pension institutions, catering enterprises, and social organizations. For the filial piety canteen that has passed the acceptance, the operating company will be given a start-up subsidy of 30,000 yuan, and the elderly over 80 years old will be given a meal subsidy of 3 yuan per person per day. Through large-scale operation, effective cost control, scientific pricing and reasonable meal subsidies, the operating company achieves a win-win situation of social and economic benefits. ”

　　In order to achieve sustainable operation, the elderly meal assistance needs to be shared in multiple ways. Shandong Province guides the elderly and their children to take the initiative to "pay a little", guides qualified party branches to support the operation of canteens for the elderly through collective income subsidies and other means, and at the same time promulgates the "Shandong Province "for the Elderly" Volunteer Service Project Guide, focusing on meal assistance, and encourages all localities to guide public welfare charitable organizations, caring enterprises, and caring people to carry out charitable donations. In 2023, the Provincial Charity Federation will systematically raise 56 million yuan for meal assistance for the elderly.

　　Up to now, a total of 78 meal service points have been built in Boxing County, all of which have been put into operation. There are 12,591 canteens for the elderly in the province, serving 400,000 elderly people per day.

　　Yin Honglu, an associate professor at Shandong Youth Political College, believes that to ensure the long-term operation of the canteen for the elderly, it is necessary to adhere to the combination of marketization and public welfare, integrate different elements such as people, culture, land, industry, and scenery inside and outside the community, realize multiple coordination, cooperation and sharing of the government, society, market and family, and explore the development path of meal assistance services for the elderly according to local conditions.

Source: People's Daily