Technology boosts Nanyang's care for its growing elderly population

To better care for the city's expanding centenarian population, a 15-minute healthcare system for the elderly is taking shape in Nanyang through an Internet Plus intelligent nursing service platform.

The announcement was made by the Nanyang Civil Affairs Bureau at a press conference on Nov 17.

As a supplement to public service hotline 12349, the platform will use the community as an anchor point and integrate government support with all social resources to provide convenient, highly-efficient and reliable services for the elderly.

The hotline, which is already in use, allows the elderly to gain access to information, housekeeping services and healthcare without stepping out of the house. With the platform, their family or staff members can make emergency calls, give them remote medical treatment and prevent them from getting lost.

As of December 2016, 1.6 million residents in Nanyang were over 60, accounting for 15.41 percent of the total population. Currently, there are 246 public, 113 private and 323 community nursing institutions in the city.

The government has spent more than 10 million yuan ($1.5 million) to support these institutions and the construction of the platform since last year. That was one of the multipronged measures to solve the aging issue.

It is expected that 90 percent of the elderly in Nanyang will be able to enjoy household nursing via self-care and platform service by 2020. Seven percent of them will live a comfortable life with professional services provided by the community, while the rest will move to a nursing house to receive collective care.