The "Opinions on Developing the Silver Economy and Improving the Well-being of the Elderly" clearly proposes to create a new business format of smart and healthy elderly care.
Outlook Oriental Weekly reporter Zhang Jing editor Gu Jiayun.
On September 15, 2023, two visitors learn about smart elderly care products at Tencent's Yinfa Technology booth (photo by Liang Xu).
In the Guangzhou nursing home, the intelligent detection belt placed under the mattress of the hospital bed is monitoring the health data of the elderly in real time, and has made early warnings for nearly 1,000 risk matters without disturbing the normal sleep of the elderly; In Beijing, the AR glasses for the elderly developed by the technology company Bright Vision can both "see" and "hear", weighing only 79 grams; In Rizhao, Shandong, a small remote control has become an "artifact" for the elderly living alone, "summoning" service ...... such as meal assistance and cleaning with one click
On January 17, the National Bureau of Statistics released data showing that the population aged 60 and above was 296.97 million, accounting for 21 of the national population1%, of which 216.76 million are aged 65 and above, accounting for 15 percent of the national population4%。
The aging of the Chinese population is large-scale, deep and fast. At the same time, as the "post-60s" generation, with a higher level of education and strong spending power, the proportion of GDP in the silver economy continues to rise, and it has begun to play an important role in stimulating domestic demand, cultivating emerging industries and promoting employment.
On January 15, the General Office of the People's Republic of China issued the "Opinions on Developing the Silver Economy and Improving the Well-being of the Elderly" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions"), proposing 26 measures in 4 aspects, involving many fields such as elderly care and smart and healthy elderly care. In this document No. 1 of the State Council in 2024, it is clearly proposed to create a new business format of smart health care for the elderly.
Improving the quality of life of the elderly is related to the pursuit of a happy and beautiful life for all people. In the context of rising labor costs and the rapid development of digital technology, smart pension is injecting vigorous new momentum into the development of the pension industry and industry.
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How to understand the concept of "smart pension"?
Zuo Meiyun, deputy dean of the School of Information of Chinese University and director of the Institute of Smart Pension of Chinese University, believes that smart pension refers to the use of modern information technology to support the life services and management of the elderly from life, security, medical and health, health care, entertainment and leisure, learning and sharing, etc., and automatically analyze, warn and even actively dispose of information related to the elderly, and gradually realize the friendly, autonomous and personalized intelligent interaction between technology and the elderly.
As a revolution in the traditional pension model, smart pension will combine the advantages and strength of advanced technology to provide new solutions and practical practical paths for the problems and dilemmas faced by China's pension industry and industry. Through intelligent means, those things that cannot be done, cannot be done well or are unwilling to be done by human beings are handed over to machines and equipment and robots to complete. Zuo Meiyun said.
In 2012, the National Office on Aging first put forward the concept of "intelligent elderly care" to encourage and support the exploration of intelligent elderly care in various localities. Therefore, 2013 is also known as the "first year" of China's pension service industry, according to Feng Wenmeng, a researcher and director of the Research Office of the Institute of Public Management and Human Resources of the Development Research Center, in 2013, the first issued the "Several Opinions on Accelerating the Development of the Pension Service Industry", which provides policy support for the healthy development of the pension industry. Since then, China's pension service industry has gradually entered the fast lane of development.
In 2017, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and the National Health and Family Planning Commission issued the "Action Plan for the Development of Smart and Healthy Elderly Care Industry (2017-2020)" and in 2020, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs jointly issued the "Opinions on Promoting the Development of Home-based Community Elderly Care Services by Property Service Enterprises". The supply of innovative smart pension products has a clearer design and deployment, and the smart pension industry has entered a growth period.
After 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the National Health Commission and other ministries and commissions will once again issue relevant documents, proposing planning measures such as strengthening protection, improving the level of medical care for the health of the elderly, and increasing the supply of integrated medical and elderly care services such as homes, communities, and institutions. The smart pension industry has entered a period of rapid development.
In the process of more than 10 years of exploration, smart elderly care services have gradually entered the elderly care institutions, communities, and families, and the concept of "elderly care" has become a national consensus, and the transformation of "smart aging" and "suitable for the elderly" has become a key project of urban renewal, and the continuous integration of digital technology innovation and urban governance scenarios has effectively promoted the high-quality operation of the elderly care industry and the high-quality development of the elderly care industry, and improved the life happiness of the elderly group and the overall quality of life of the elderly family.
Contribute to urban governance.
Why is Granny Huang still out of bed after so long, and immediately go to her house to take a look. On the afternoon of December 15, 2023, Mo Jiayu, a grid member in Kangzhuang Community, Wenjia Street, Qingyang District, Chengdu, received an early warning on her mobile phone, and she immediately clicked on the community's "Home Care Platform for the Elderly" system and checked that Granny Huang, who originally needed to stay in bed, had been out of bed for more than two hours. Worried about an accident for the elderly living alone, she immediately went to check with her colleagues to confirm that the elderly were safe before leaving.
The grid staff can grasp the status of the elderly living alone in the community for the first time, which comes from a set of intelligent systems for accurate management of the community. Walking into the Wenjia Street Operation Center in Zhihui Rongcheng, an LED screen is full of blue heart-shaped icons and data: "Grandpa Zhou, 91 years old, breathing rate 18, heart rate 82; Granny Qiao is 79 years old, with a breathing rate of 19 and a heart rate of 85......"The large screen updates the body data of the elderly in real time.
Zhou Chengjun, secretary of Kangzhuang community, pointed to the screen and said: "This is the home-based elderly care platform of the Happy Station community, and we include special groups such as the elderly and empty nesters in the jurisdiction into the system, and enter the information of children and the contact list of volunteers." For the elderly who live alone, real-time monitoring of electronic health records is also established for them, which can monitor heart rate, breathing rate, sleep quality, etc. ”
The data is even refined down to the number of times you leave the bed, the number of turnovers and the duration of naps. Zhou Chengjun took out a small white square box and said that this is a millimeter-wave intelligent sensor, which is placed at the head of the bed of the monitoring object, and the physical condition of the elderly can be monitored in real time through the life and health monitoring of the human-machine Internet of Things. At the same time, the community has established a risk early warning and response linkage mechanism, and if there is an emergency, the system will automatically "alarm" the person's situation to the community grid members, emergency contacts, etc., so that they can come to the door to deal with it at the first time.
One-click mastery, accurate service, smart pension should be deeply embedded in the smart city governance service system. Yang Fan, a researcher at the China Institute of Urban Governance at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and an associate professor at the School of International and Public Affairs, found in the survey that many of the service needs of the elderly in their daily lives are relatively small and scattered, and it is unrealistic to arrange special services, but if the relevant services cannot be connected in time, it will bring a lot of practical problems to the elderly. Smart elderly care can break the barrier of time and space, and play a huge role and potential in the intensive supply of elderly care service resources and the precise access to services.
Xiaotai Xiaotai, what's the weather like today? "Xiaotai Xiaotai, what are you going to eat at the restaurant at noon today?" "Xiaotai Xiaotai, call an online family doctor" ......This is the daily conversation between Aunt Feng, a resident of Taikang Home Beijing Yanyuan Phase III, and the "Xiaotai Smart Speaker", and it is also a microcosm of Taikang residents "embracing" wisdom and enjoying old age. Now Aunt Feng starts by calling out "Xiaotai, good morning" every day, she said: "The appearance of Xiaotai speakers has changed my cognition and enriched my life. ”
In September 2023, Taikang Home released a newly upgraded "Smart Community" product system, focusing on two core products: "Smart Housekeeper" and "Smart Operation".
Zhang Huifeng, assistant president and chief operating officer of Taikang Home, introduced to the "Outlook Oriental Weekly" that the "smart housekeeper" closely focuses on the actual needs of the elders in the community, with Xiaotai smart speaker as the core product, and provides the elders with a full range of 7 24-hour services combined with online and offline, covering more than 30 services in eight core scenarios of safety, health, catering, residence, entertainment, social, sports, and public welfare.
In the case of physical discomfort or falls, the elders can trigger the community emergency rescue process with a call, which complements the rope alarm device in the elder's room; If you have health problems, you can call an online family doctor at any time for ** consultation; When you need help in your life, your online butler is always available to help. Zhang Huifeng said.
Up to now, more than 200 "Smart Butlers" have been distributed in Beijing Yanyuan Phase III, with an average daily user activity rate of 81%, an average daily usage time of up to 70 minutes, and a total voice interaction of 180,000 times, more than 200 voice interactions per day, "nutritious food", "sign entry", "one-week activities" and other special function modules are well received by elderly residents.
Smart elderly care into the community is an important measure to actively respond to the aging of the population, which can better meet the diverse needs of the elderly. On the new journey of Chinese-style modernization, there is a lot to be done in the community for smart elderly care. Yang Fan said.
The small equipment in the hands of the elderly is demanding, which affects the great improvement of the city's governance efficiency. Many places are taking action to promote the construction of a smart pension system from the aspects of policy system, organizational coordination, and technical support.
Chongqing Municipality has made it clear that it will support the construction of a distribution base for products and supplies for the elderly, promote the operation of the digital application of "Yuyue Pension", optimize and upgrade the "convenient pension service" scenario, gradually realize the sharing of pension information and remote monitoring, and provide online one-stop service for the basic pension needs of all the elderly.
Guangzhou has released a list of smart pension needs, set up a pension service data monitoring center, and used face recognition, mobile phone positioning and other technical means to realize the visualization of the pension service process, the results can be checked, and the quality can be controlled. A number of smart pension applications have been implemented. For example, the large catering service for the elderly all realizes the swiping of the card and the face of dining, and the settlement of meals and the reduction and exemption of subsidies are automatically completed.
In Jiangsu, where the problem of population aging is more prominent, the community of Wanhu New Village in Yancheng City has innovated "Internet +" home care services and built a smart community platform; Canglang Street, Gusu District, Suzhou City, has set up 8 functional service areas for the elderly service center, including smart elderly care; Many communities in Lianyungang, Xuzhou and other places are building a smart elderly care characteristic service brand ......
Technology solves pain points.
If I didn't have this guardian card, I probably wouldn't be where I am today, it's really a resurrection! 74-year-old Grandma He recalls the sudden situation a few months ago and still has lingering palpitations.
On September 12, 2023, Grandma He, who lives alone in Nanhai District, Foshan City, returned from a trip from other places, and as soon as she entered the door, she felt her heart beat faster and her blood pressure soared, and she was paralyzed and almost unconscious. Grandma He immediately took out the silver age guardian card hanging around her neck and pressed the red SOS button. The silver-haired guardian platform immediately helped the elderly connect to the smart pension guardian platform of Nanhai Civil Affairs. Using the positioning information of the Silver Age Guardian Card, in less than 5 minutes, the 120 ambulance arrived downstairs at the old man's house and sent him to the hospital.
Grandma Ho's Silver Age Guardian Card in use.
The platform also helped me contact my daughter, and the ambulance arrived at the same time as my daughter. After taking oxygen in time on the way, I felt a little more sober, and it was really a race against time to save heart disease! Grandma He said.
The "small card" that rescued Grandma He is a silver age guardian card launched by Tencent SSV Silver Technology Lab and Jimmy IoT. Dou Ruigang, Vice President of Tencent's Sustainable Social Value Business Unit and Head of Tencent's SSV Silver Technology Lab, told Oriental Outlook that the triple positioning of GPS, WiFi and LBS can be used by families, communities and institutions to keep track of the whereabouts of the elderly and prevent them from getting lost. Through the applet, the electronic fence of the security guard area is set up on the map, and once the elderly walk out of the safe area, the silver age guardian card will immediately call the police through multiple methods such as SMS and ** platform notification; If the elderly encounter a sudden accident, they can press and hold the SOS button on the Silver Age Guardian Card to call for emergency help with one click, so as to get rescue in time.
In addition to the functions related to safety protection, the Silver Age Guardian Card also provides a lot of life services in an age-appropriate way. For example, two-way family calls with family members, convenient WeChat payment, and remote consultation allow the elderly to easily talk to doctors in tertiary hospitals at home, and remind the elderly to take medicine on time ......These functions can be achieved through the touch screen and 4 buttons on the Silver Age Guardian Card. Dou Ruigang said.
In China, 90% of the elderly are aged at home. Connecting services with on-the-go and wearable smart devices is an ideal way to combine and match them for personalisation. Dou Ruigang said.
"Listener" smart AR glasses is a wearable device that serves the elderly.
Beijing Bright Vision Technology*** launched the "Listener" product in 2022. After wearing glasses, the hearing-impaired and degraded elderly can "understand" the conversations of relatives and friends through the font displayed on the glasses screen. The font size of the screen content can be switched at will to improve the user experience of the elderly group.
Liang Xianglong, the person in charge of the product of Bright Vision, told Oriental Outlook Weekly: "An old doctor with excellent medical skills suffers from hearing loss, which affects his residual heat. He is very pleased that he can now clearly understand the needs of patients and can use his medical skills to serve them. ”
Chen Gong, director of the Institute of Population Research and Institute of Gerontology of Peking University, believes that compared with the elderly born before the founding of New China, the "new elderly" born in the fifties and sixties of the last century have significantly higher requirements for the personalization, diversity and quality of pension services. How to meet the effective demand of the market has become the focus of the current development of the silver economy.
The "Opinions" put forward that the silver economy is the sum of a series of economic activities such as providing products or services to the elderly and preparing for the aging stage, involving a wide range, a long industrial chain, diversified business formats and huge potential. Therefore, promoting the integrated application of a new generation of information technology and smart devices such as mobile terminals, wearable devices, and service robots in home, community, and institution elderly care scenarios, and developing intelligent products such as health management, elderly care, and psychological comfort have become the focus of the development of the silver economy in the next stage.
At present, the health and pension demand of the elderly in China has not been fully released, and the supply side is still in its infancy. Chen Gong said.
According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the scale of China's elderly products market will reach 5 trillion yuan in 2023, and the product types and quantities will have a certain scale. According to the "Research Report on the Development of China's Silver Economy" released by the Institute of Aging Research of Fudan University, the scale of China's silver economy will reach 19 in 20351 trillion yuan.
On January 22, He Yaqiong, director of the Consumer Goods Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said at the press conference of the State Council Information Office that it will cultivate and expand the smart health care industry, focusing on Internet + medical health, smart nursing homes, smart communities and other scenarios, and will continue to carry out pilot demonstration selection and dynamic management of smart health care applications in conjunction with relevant departments. So far, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has issued three editions of the "Smart Health Care Products and Services Promotion Catalog" to encourage enterprises to develop and promote products and services suitable for the elderly.
The silver economy is moving from concept to action, and has become an important action to actively respond to the aging of the population and achieve high-quality development in the new era. Yuan Xin, a professor at the School of Economics of Nankai University and director of the Center for Aging Development Strategy of Nankai University, said.
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Silver Economy, Wisdom Walking" special series of manuscripts.