Ningbo two sessions highlight elderly care solutions

During the ongoing Ningbo two sessions – two annual meetings of the city's legislature and political advisory body – delegates talked about enhancing home-based elderly care.

Suggestions ranged from developing senior-friendly digital products to addressing risks in long-term care services. These proposals aim to meet the diverse needs of the elderly.

One prominent focus of the meetings was on utilizing technology to support the health of the elderly, a concern raised by Li Runwei, a researcher at the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology & Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Li's team is dedicated to creating a "flexible materials + smart healthcare" project, leveraging wearable technology to embed sensors and IoT technology into clothing or smart home products. This project utilizes flexible electronic technology to create intelligent medical devices that conform naturally to the wearer's skin, providing better monitoring of elderly people's health conditions.

Li suggested leveraging Ningbo's industrial manufacturing strengths in flexible electronics, textiles, clothing, and the Internet of Things to stimulate the development and implementation of intelligent elderly care products and applications.

Addressing long-term care services has become a crucial issue for home-based elderly care, and Li Xian expressed her concerns regarding the implementation of long-term care insurance in Ningbo.

In 2017, Ningbo launched long-term care insurance, which refers to insurance that covers the costs of a host of care services for people with chronic medical conditions, disabilities or disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.

Li said that though the long-term care insurance has alleviated the caregiving burden and financial strain on individuals and families, there is still room for improvement.

She suggested establishing a scientific evaluation system, simplifying application processes, and reducing assessment time in the implementation of long-term care insurance to ensure that disabled individuals can access long-term care benefits in a timely manner.