Guiyang strives to become national leader in elderly care

Guiyang is taking advantage of its strong weather, tourism, and ecological environment to improve care for the elderly by exploring a new mode of "Internet Plus" and expanding its nursing facilities.

According to statistics, the number of people over 60 years old in Guiyang will reach 660,100 this year, accounting for 16.2 percent of the total population.

Facing the threat of an aging population, Guiyang takes elderly care as a top priority and is creating a multilevel elderly care service system which integrates home-based care, community and institutional support.

Currently, Guiyang has 128 elderly care institutions with 21,699 beds, which means 33 beds per one thousand elderly. It is encouraging hospitals to expand elderly care services to include nursing, medical care and rehabilitation.

Qualified privately operated organizations are encouraged to add medical care services to realize the integration of medical care and elderly care.

By 2020, Guiyang will raise funds through various channels to expand more elderly care service facilities. All communities in Guiyang will have daytime care centers and the amount of beds per one thousand elderly is expected to reach 35 to 40.

From 2016 to 2017, nine elderly care industrial projects were launched in Guiyang, with an investment of 801 million yuan ($115.81 million). According to the circular tour planning, Guiyang will launch over 60 health care tourism projects with an investment of 330 billion yuan.

According to a staff member at Guiyang civil affairs bureau, Guiyang will promote the construction of urban and rural integration, investment diversification, management standardization and team specialization to build a new model for elderly care.

Relying on elderly care plans and circular tour plans, Guiyang strives to become a retirement haven for elderly across the country.