CPPCC Member Proposes Qualified Nursing Care for the Elderly

Yuan Zhi, a female member of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) [Women of China/Fan Wenjun]

China should make greater efforts to encourage qualified nursing personnel for the elderly, said Yuan Zhi, a female member of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

China's population is ageing. At present, China has more than 200 million people above 60, accounting for about 15 percent of the total population.

However, China's pension system lacks sufficiency to meet the needs of its senior citizens. There are three pension routes for the elderly, including home-based care, community-based care and nursing institutions. According to a survey, around 90 percent of old people choose home-based care whilst only around 10 percent choose nursing institutions.

According to the 12th Five-Year Period (2011-2015) Plan, China's nursing institutions should provide 30 beds per 1,000 old people. However, the number is currently only 20.5.

In addition, China suffers a shortage of qualified nursing personnel, especially for home-based care. The National Working Commission on Ageing predicted that the demand for nursing personnel will increase to 78 million workers in 2030 from 20 million in 2010.

Yuan — who serves as Vice President of Nankai University in north China's Tianjin Municipality — said, "Regarding the home-based care for the elderly, most nursing workers come from house-keeping service institutions. They are migrant workers or retired workers, and don't have the medical, nursing and psychological knowledge for taking care of the elderly, as professional nursing workers prefer to work in hospitals rather than nursing institutions and house-keeping institutions."

Accordingly, Yuan put forward some suggestions on fostering professional nursing workers for the elderly as follows:

Firstly, China should encourage medical vocational schools to set up special training schemes in care for the elderly. Furthermore, it should establish scholarships, reduce and exempt tuition fees for students of this specialism so as to attract more students.

Secondly, the Ministry of Education should team up with other relevant departments to establish educational criteria for this specialism as well as admittance and assessment standards for workers engaged in care for the elderly.

Thirdly, a job title assessment and promotion system should be established to stipulate trainees professional status and improve their working treatment, so as to enhance the professionalization and standardization of care for the elderly.

Fourthly, schools should be encouraged to set up nursing training classes to provide training to current workers involved in care for the elderly.

"I believe, as long as young people can enjoy proper treatment at work and see opportunities in promotion, they will choose a career in care for the elderly and contribute their efforts to social development," said Yuan.

(Women of China)