China to boost integrated elderly care, medical services for seniors

BEIJING, April 6 (Xinhua) -- China's National Health Commission, together with other relevant departments, has issued a circular to boost integrated elderly care and medical services for seniors.

Such integrated services will focus on health education, preventative therapeutics, diagnosis, medical treatment and rehabilitation for the elderly, especially those with disabilities, chronic diseases, or at advanced ages, while meeting their needs in everyday life, according to the circular.

Eligible medical and elderly care institutions at the primary level should boost their capacity for home and community-based services that organically integrate elderly care with health care, in a bid to fulfill the demand of the senior residents they are serving, the circular stated.

It also outlined efforts to raise the capacity of providing such services in a professional, regulated and secure manner, further leverage traditional Chinese medicine, strengthen workforce training, boost digitalization and improve the quality of relevant facilities.