2022-01-13
Pension services, countries explore new ways
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Improve the elderly's self-care ability, care for the elderly's emotional needs, provide diversified services, and promote science and technology to help the elderly... In the face of changes in the population structure, countries, starting from their own reality, improve the elderly care service system, practice the positive concept of aging, and explore new ways of healthy aging
Germany - "multi generation house" promotes intergenerational exchanges
Pattensen is a small town in the south of Hanover, Germany, with a population of only 13000. In the morning, in a villa in the town, several retired old people were sitting around the table in the living room playing cards, and the children's laughter came from the nursery downstairs from time to time.
This is a typical scene of "multi generation house" in Germany. It is not only a kindergarten, but also a community activity center for the elderly. Sometimes it also acts as an "Education Center" and "consultation office" for young people. Here, the elderly are obliged to read books for the children in the nursery and give pertinent life suggestions to the visiting young people; Children patiently accompany the elderly, while young students use their spare time to teach the elderly to use computers, mobile phones and other electronic products. Since the age of 64, Maria and her husband rose have frequently visited this "multi generation house". At that time, they had just lost their daughter. "We prefer to stay here with young people rather than counseling," the couple said
According to the data, in 2020, the number of elderly people aged 65 and over in Germany accounted for 21.8% of the total population, and the proportion of one person household was rising, and one in three elderly people lived alone. Among the population over the age of 85, the proportion of one person household is even as high as 58%. The traditional pension mode in Germany mainly includes family care, home care, admission to professional retirement communities or nursing homes. According to the survey, most German people hope to provide for the aged at home as much as possible. The increasing number of people living alone brings new challenges to the home-based elderly care model.
To this end, the German government and society continue to explore, and there have been many innovative ways, such as "housekeeping for rent" where the elderly and young students live together, and "mutual aid apartment" shared by many elderly people. Among them, the "multi generation housing" plan has become a key part of Germany's strategy to deal with aging. The plan was launched by the German Federal Ministry of family, elderly, women and youth affairs in 2006 and updated the second generation plan in 2012. At present, there are about 534 "multi generation houses" in Germany, covering all cities and towns. About 20000 volunteers of all ages participated in the plan and became the backbone of the "multi generation house".
"Multi generation houses" are mostly located in townhouses and other buildings, generally including elderly activity centers, nurseries, small restaurants or cafes, as well as shopping, cleaning, catering, nursing and other services. While enriching home life and strengthening social integration for the elderly, the plan also aims to promote intergenerational exchanges, gather people of different ages and ethnic groups under the same roof, and strengthen the atmosphere of social solidarity and mutual assistance. According to the survey, about three-quarters of the "multi generation houses" have achieved the goal of enhancing intergenerational exchanges between the elderly and young people.
Each "multi generation house" is operated by an independent operator. From 2017 to 2020, each "multi generation house" will receive 40000 euros of working capital, of which 30000 will come from the federal government and the rest from the local government. According to the second generation plan, the German government also included charitable organizations, foundations and local enterprises to provide operating funds for local "multi generation houses". The German Federal Office for family and civil society affairs will supervise the work of the operator every year and comprehensively evaluate its activities, customer satisfaction and impact on local society through interviews or random interviews.
The German government also encourages "multi generation houses" in different regions to organize targeted services and activities according to local characteristics and the needs of the elderly. Some "multi generation houses" introduce theme workshops such as reading, writing and mathematics to carry out relevant skills training for visitors. In 2020, the "multi generation house" participating in this project will provide more than 900 learning and training opportunities for people and become a learning place for local residents. During the novel coronavirus pneumonia epidemic prevention and control, some "multi generation housing" also provide long-distance activities such as telephone learning, outdoor walking learning, virtual exhibition and video consultation for the elderly, and so on, and continuously maintain the social network for the elderly.
Korea - various service institutions provide multiple choices
At more than 8 o'clock every morning, a van will drive into the community where the reporter is located on time to connect the 83 year old Jin Yirun to the elderly care center. Just like the transfer from kindergarten, this is the transfer service provided by the Korean elderly care center. Jin Yirun had a stroke a few years ago, which made him unable to move. In order to reduce his wife's burden, he chose to go to the elderly care center for care. "There are various sports courses there, which help to recover from stroke." Jin Yirun said.
In recent years, with the increasing proportion of the elderly over 65 years old, a variety of elderly welfare institutions have emerged in Korea, and several types of elderly care service institutions are becoming popular. For the elderly who need special care, the elderly care center is a good choice. At present, it is mainly private, and the elderly who join the long-term convalescence insurance in Korea can apply for "Kindergarten". The services provided by each trusteeship center are different. Some only provide care services, while others will organize the elderly to do different activities such as games, gymnastics and handicrafts. Data show that there are 168 certified high-quality elderly care centers in Seoul. The operation time of these centers will be extended to 22:00 a.m. every day, giving priority to low-income people.
The Korean National Health Insurance Association will grade the self-care ability of the elderly and give a certain proportion of reimbursement. The customers of the elderly care center will pay the corresponding fees according to their own conditions. The elderly with insufficient self-care ability and the highest level enjoy 8 hours of service every day. Individuals only need to bear 7500 won (1 yuan, about 186 won). If they are the elderly with minimum living allowance, the fee is free. For the elderly with insufficient self-care ability or cognitive impairment, the elderly care center will also set up various courses to help them improve their physical function and cognitive ability.
The comprehensive welfare center for the elderly focuses on leisure and entertainment, which is also a project promoted by governments at all levels. According to the data of the Ministry of health and welfare of South Korea, by the end of 2020, there were 398 elderly welfare centers of different sizes in South Korea.
Take Gwangju elderly health center, the largest comprehensive welfare center for the elderly in Korea, as an example. It covers about 1.45 million elderly people. Gwangju citizens over the age of 60 can become members, and the annual membership fee is only 5000 won. The center has four pavilions with a total area of 20000 square meters. It has all kinds of reading, literature, art and sports facilities, and more than 80 free teaching programs. The center has a special counseling room to provide counseling for the elderly on psychological or other problems, as well as suitable jobs for the elderly with work needs. The relevant person in charge of the center told reporters that the center was funded, established and operated by Guangzhou municipal government, and received donations and volunteer services at the same time.
In addition, Korean governments at all levels are actively promoting the construction of a reassuring Center for cognitive impairment in the elderly. According to statistics, the prevalence of cognitive impairment among the elderly over 65 years old in Korea was 10.33% in 2020. These peace of mind centers are built and operated by the government. Some rely on public hospitals, and some establish separate institutions to register and count the information of elderly patients with cognitive impairment and provide a variety of help to their families. The elderly over the age of 60 can receive early cognitive health status diagnosis here free of charge and get counseling on the prevention of cognitive impairment. If they find that they have the tendency of cognitive impairment, they can be transferred to the hospital for treatment in time. The reassurance center is also responsible for publicizing the knowledge of cognitive impairment of the elderly to the society and recruiting accompanying volunteers. At present, there are 31 elderly cognitive disorder centers in Seoul alone.
Overall, the elderly care center is committed to solving the elderly care problems and reducing the pressure of family care; The comprehensive welfare center for the elderly provides leisure and entertainment space for the elderly and enriches their daily life; The cognitive impairment reassurance center focuses on preventing the elderly from suffering from cognitive impairment diseases and improving the quality of life of the elderly. In addition to these welfare institutions, South Korea also has door-to-door service institutions that specifically provide day home care and short-term stay care, as well as traditional nursing homes and nursing homes for the elderly. There are many types and detailed classifications of elderly care service institutions, so that the elderly can choose appropriate elderly care services according to their own needs and preferences.
Netherlands - life apartments "back to hand service"
"OK, I'll be there on time." Albert Vandenberg put down the phone and told reporters that he was going to volunteer in the library later. This surprised the reporter, because Vandenberg, 75, moved to this life apartment five years ago because of a car accident and brain damage.
"I'm young here. Most of my neighbors are over 80." Seeing the reporter's surprised expression, he explained that as long as we can take care of ourselves, we will try our best to solve problems by ourselves and undertake some volunteer work. During the interview, Vandenberg received several calls from some departments of life apartment.
Akropolis life apartment where Vandenberg lives is located in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. It was built in 1978 and is the first life apartment in the Netherlands. There are more than 600 apartments, which are divided into one bedroom and two bedrooms for the elderly. Different from traditional pension institutions, life apartments are open-ended and can be freely accessed whether living in apartments or not. The apartment is located in a mature community, close to the residential area, which is convenient for shopping and walking. There are gardens, happy farms and some outdoor activities outside the apartment. The elderly can go out to enjoy flowers and have close contact with small animals. The hall on the first floor looks like a mini commercial street, with restaurants, bars, supermarkets, barber shops, laundry points, chess and card rooms, etc. to provide services for the elderly and visitors.
Vandenberg's room is a one bedroom, small in size, but fully functional. The room was clean and tidy, and the windowsill was full of potted plants, full of green and vigorous vitality. "The rent is not very expensive, and my pension can basically be covered. There is a shortage of pension institutions suitable for low - and middle-income people in the Netherlands. I waited in line for more than a year to rent a room here." Vandenberg said, "here, except for chefs and medical emergency personnel, other staff do not wear work clothes. We can't see those wearing white coats, and we don't know who are the staff, family members and residents. Just like in an ordinary community, this atmosphere makes us feel relaxed and happy."
Professor Hans Baker, a Dutch elderly care expert, is the initiator of life apartment. He told reporters that traditional elderly care institutions focus on treatment, with the goal of prolonging the life of the elderly. However, many diseases occur naturally with age, just like the natural wear and tear of machines.
"Because many senile diseases are caused by physiological function decline, pension institutions can take slowing down the physiological function decline of the elderly as the top priority." Baker further explained that the excessive care of "opening your mouth with food and reaching out with clothes" will only accelerate the decline of function. Life apartment applies the scientific concept of "use in, waste out" to apartment management and explores a set of effective methods.
According to reports, according to the ability to take care of themselves, life apartment divides the elderly into three categories: completely unable to take care of themselves, semi self-care and self-care. Different categories arrange different staff. The elderly who are totally unable to take care of themselves are mainly the elderly with dementia and disability, which are taken care of by professional medical staff; The semi self-care elderly have simple self-care ability and are cared for by the daily management and service personnel of the apartment and assisted by some medical personnel; The self-care elderly not only take care of their daily life, but also often help the semi self-care elderly as volunteers.
Volunteers are an important service force of life apartment, mainly composed of the elderly in the apartment, residents and college students in the surrounding community. When Vandenberg first moved into the life apartment, he was an elderly person who could not take care of himself at all. After two years of rehabilitation treatment, he was divided into semi self-care elderly people. Now he is a member of the self-care elderly. He not only doesn't need staff to take care of him, but also becomes a volunteer and often takes care of the older elderly. "We are well aware of the principle of 'use in and waste out' of body organs, and try not to bother others to do what we can." Vandenberg said.
The reporter saw that many semi disabled elderly came to the restaurant from the upstairs apartment in an electric wheelchair or with a booster, and ordered, picked up, dined and went to the bathroom all by themselves. Some nurses observed a few meters away and would not take the initiative to help unless they had to. Baker summed up this way of working as "back-to-back service". He said that the main task of the staff here is not to take care of the elderly, but to create conditions for the elderly to take care of themselves as much as possible to avoid functional degradation. "Do not take care of the elderly, but help them take care of themselves" has been internalized into the working principle of staff.
Since most of the work is done by the elderly themselves, the operating cost of life apartments is mostly lower than that of traditional elderly care institutions. Moreover, by opening apartment service facilities to the society, the operating income has also increased a lot. More importantly, the elderly feel their value and the meaning of life in the process of actively participating in self-management, stay away from loneliness in the open pan family cultural atmosphere, and obtain more self-confidence and happiness. It is reported that since its development, the Netherlands has more than 30 life apartments, which have become its standard pension model, and have been introduced into Japan, South Korea, Denmark, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and other countries.
Israel - technological innovation helps Industrial Development
The bedroom, living room and kitchen are complete, and the furniture, household appliances and green plants are placed orderly. Several researchers are gathering in front of the computer to sort out the experimental data... This seemingly warm and comfortable "home" is actually a healthy aging innovation laboratory located in the southern Israeli city of bersheba. "The establishment of this unique laboratory aims to improve the quality of life of the elderly." Izk Sabato, fund manager of the investor Israel National Insurance Association, said that the laboratory simulates the living environment of the elderly and is used to test and incubate innovative technologies and products to solve various problems in the life of the elderly.
In recent years, the problem of population aging in Israel has become increasingly prominent. By 2020, the proportion of people over 65 years old in the country is 12.41%, which is expected to rise to 14.6% by 2035. In response to the change of population structure, scientific and technological innovation has become the driving force to promote the development of the elderly care industry, and various technologies to help the elderly have been gradually popularized in local families and nursing homes.
When the elderly sleep, they can collect and analyze information such as respiratory rate, heart rate and sleep quality to give early warning of health problems in advance; When the old man is ready to get up, he can be informed by capturing the change of posture, and timely notify the caregiver to help the old man by the bed to avoid falling; If the elderly leave the bed too long at night, they will be prompted in time to prevent accidents... These "not leaving the body" nursing can now be realized with the help of technology. Just install a small health box under the bed and connect the network, and the caregiver can understand the health status of the elderly when lying in bed in real time.
If you need help when you go out, the elderly can notify the caregiver by pressing the key on the mobile phone or wearable device. If the caregiver cannot arrive in time, the platform will search the surrounding nursing workers or volunteers to form a list for the caregiver to choose. The selected personnel will receive detailed service needs, establish three-party calls with the elderly and caregivers, and rush to the site as soon as possible to provide assistance. The well-designed Internet platform connects the elderly, caregivers and social forces through the network to solve problems in time. Renee, an 80 year old local old man, was full of praise after experiencing a variety of new aging products.
Local society has long attached importance to the care of the elderly, which is the basis for the vigorous development of science and technology to help the elderly in Israel. On the "elderly health" page specially set up on the official website of the Ministry of health of Israel, the rights and services enjoyed by the elderly in Israel are introduced in detail in five languages, and the ways of consultation and complaint are listed. Israel has also introduced a number of laws to determine and safeguard the rights of older persons in health, welfare, personal safety and hospice care. The long term care insurance law implemented since 1988 has made Israel one of the first countries in the world to implement a socialized care insurance system based on family care insurance. The double-layer pension plan composed of fund pension insurance and occupational pension insurance can not only ensure the elderly to enjoy the basic pension, but also obtain another insurance subsidy. These laws and systems not only protect the rights and interests of the elderly, solve the problem of the source of nursing funds, but also greatly promote the development of nursing service industry.
"A solid foundation in digital technology will enable Israel to develop technology to help the elderly." Benny Zevi, executive partner of Tel Aviv venture capital partners, said that Israel has advantages in sensors, artificial intelligence and big data. Integrating these resources will help to better improve the lives of the elderly. The website of the times of Israel reported that Israeli start-ups in the field of digital health raised $700 million in the first quarter of 2021, almost equivalent to the total amount in 2020. A report released by a local non-profit organization shows that the number of digital health companies in Israel has increased significantly in recent years, reaching nearly 400. Among them, the growth of the sub industry of personal health tools related to the field of elderly care is the most prominent. The analysis points out that in the future, the digital health field, including pension technology, will become a hot industry in Israel.
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