District checks up on seniors living alone

The Hongkou Senior Citizen Affairs Committee Office has made 60,000 phone calls to elderly residents who live alone as a part of a program to help ensure their needs are being met, the Shanghai Morning Post reported Wednesday.

The office has a list of about 5,000 senior citizens who have registered for the service, said Gong Linglin, deputy director of the Hongkou Senior Citizen Affairs Committee Office. Social workers call the seniors on the list once or twice a week, depending on their personal needs. These include residents in their 80s who live by themselves and those who don't have children.

"We have to make sure everything is going OK with them. A phone call is necessary to make sure nothing bad has happened to them," said a staff member from the Hongkou Community Life Service Management Center, who asked to remain anonymous. "If a senior does not answer after three calls, we will either contact their family members or go check on them."

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