International Symposium on "Future Elderly Care" Successfully Held



From November 23 to 24, 2021, the online international seminar on "future elderly care" jointly organized by the Research Center for Aging of Beijing Normal University and the Asian Development Bank was successfully concluded.

A total of 14 domestic and foreign experts were invited to share experience and exchange results on four topics: active aging, smart elderly care, new care options and longevity economy. The moderators of the four topics were respectively Wendy Walker, leader of the social development task force of the Asian Development Bank, Meredith Wyse, senior social sector expert of the social development task force of the Asian Development Bank, Professor Xu Yuebin, Director of the Research Center for Aging of Beijing Normal University, and Chen Hongtao, researcher of Sau Po Centre on Ageing of the University of Hong Kong. The seminar invited 8 Chinese speakers, including 2 from Hong Kong, China, and 6 foreign representatives respectively from South Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and the United States. The conference was held online with simultaneous interpretation channels in Chinese, English and Mongolia. The audiences were mainly practitioners of elderly care service institutions, college teachers and students, managers of enterprises and social organizations, etc.

At the opening ceremony on the morning of November 23, Professor Xu Yuebin first delivered a speech. He briefly introduced the development course of elderly care service system building by the Chinese government.  At the opening ceremony on the morning of November 23, Professor Xu Yuebin first delivered a speech. He briefly introduced the development course of elderly care service system building by the Chinese government. At the very beginning, the government focused on developing elderly care services by institutions. It shifted the focus to the development of community home-based elderly care during the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, and then gives top priority to the improving community home-based elderly care services in the "14th Five-Year Plan" period. Over the past few years, he believes, the Asian Development Bank's technical assistance project for the construction of elderly care service system in mainland China has always attached importance to boosting the development of community home-based elderly care services. One of its biggest contributions is to make the project area realize the significance of developing community home-based elderly care services through training.

Professor Xu Yuebin, Director of the Research Center for Aging, Beijing Normal University

Then, Wendy Walker, leader of the social development task force of the Asian Development Bank, welcomed the participants and introduced the background and objectives of the meeting. Over the past four years, the Asian Development Bank has been carrying out a regional technical assistance programme, aiming at enhancing the capacity of developing member states to adapt to ageing societies and develop long-term care systems. The work has been carried out in six countries in Asia in order to explore the diversity of their environment, systems, social backgrounds, policies and ongoing projects. The technical assistance programme also seeks to strengthen the knowledge and evidence base of decision makers, initiate the strategic planning process for the development of long-term care systems and services, enhance the capacity of stakeholders within the countries, exchange knowledge and experience throughout the region, and promote the cross-regional sharing of experience and results among countries. New policies and plans are often based on existing knowledge of current trends rather than future opportunities. Focusing on the need for short-term measures often hinders the opportunities and possibilities for governments, enterprises and organizations to guide their policy choices and program design to the future. China has what President Xi Jinping calls the fastest growing and most diverse elderly population in the world. In recent years, the development of aging policy and elderly care has been at the forefront of policy discussion, planning and pilot. This meeting is an extension of such exchange, calling for looking forward to the future and jointly thinking about how to develop the current elderly care services in order to meet the requirements of the future. The two-day conference will share cases from Asia, involving four themes crucial to future elderly care, namely, active aging, smart elderly care, new care options and longevity economy. Each meeting will outline key issues and highlight practice and innovation. Wendy Walker thanked the Research Center for Aging of Beijing Normal University for helping to promote the conference holding, and officially announced the opening of the conference.

Wendy Walker, leader of the social development task force, Asian Development Bank

In the two and a half days, the participants had wonderful sharing around the four topics. involving some conceptual changes. Janice Chia, Founder/Executive Director of the Asian Aging Center in Singapore, for example, put forward a new concept of filial piety, Donghee Han, Director of the Korean Institute of Aging Sciences, put forward the concept of "digital aging", and Michael Hodgin, Executive Chairman of the Global Coalition on Ageing, interpreted the "silver economy". There are also some innovations in pension models , such as Vietnam's program of "intergenerational Self-Help Club" shared by Chu Viet Nga, the project manager of Hanoi (International) Elderly Care, Vietnam, the Sheyang experience shared by Tang Jun, a researcher of the Social Policy Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the neighborhood mutual aid project of "Good Age Residence" in rural communities shared by Ge Xiaorong, Director of Social Work Development Center of Shaanxi Aged Help Society, and the Hong Kong Jockey Club's 50 + SME incubation project shared by Chen Fengwen of Hong Kong Christian Family Service Center.  In addition, the participants talked about empirical evidence of the concept of positive aging, policy assistance for special elderly groups, application of elderly science and technology in providing elderly care services and prospects for intelligent aging, etc. The participants raised the consensus of Asian countries on addressing the problem of aging, especially reached a consensus on the development direction of elderly care in the future, and learned from each other, especially from the innovative practices of neighboring regions, which is conducive to the sharing and dissemination of results and experience.

Janice Chia, Founder/Executive Director of the Asian Aging Center in Singapore, presents a global perspective on active ageing

Donghee Han, Director of the Korean Institute of Aging Sciences and President of Busan Aging Policy Committee, shares South Korea’s practice of active ageing

Fu Yuanyuan, associate professor of SSDPP at Beijing Normal University, delivers a keynote speech on active ageing

Michael W. Hodin, CEO of Global Alliance on Ageing, shares the concept of “silver economy”

Dinar Kharisma, senior policy planner and social assistance coordinator of the Indonesian National Development Programme, introduced the application of Silani information system in elderly care services in Indonesia

Tang Jun, a researcher of the Social Policy Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, introduces the Sheyang Model of rural community home-based elderly care services

Sui Yujie, associate professor of School of society and population, Renmin University of China, introduces China's elderly care support policies for special family planning groups

Liu Chang, head of Access Health International, China, shares the content of "China's intelligent aging innovation report 2021"

Zhu Yong, chairman of Hualing Intelligent Elderly Care Industry Development Center, introduces the innovation of China's intelligent elderly care model

Lou Weiqun, associate professor of Department of Social Work and Social Administration, the University of Hong Kong, introduces the caregiver support policy in Hong Kong, China

Speakers and moderators under the topic of longevity economy

On the whole, the participants shared a positive view of aging, namely, changing the traditional concept of interpreting elderly people as dependent, caregivers and social burdens. They should be regarded as an undeveloped social resource. It also advocates that everyone should make comprehensive preparations for old age, including cash, materials, social relations and living environment. Some key concepts were repeatedly mentioned in this meeting, such as "empowerment", "independence", "local elderly care", "intelligent elderly care", "digital divide", and so on. The theme is the basic trend of elderly care in the future. It is worth mentioning that when talking about the four topics, the participants all mentioned the important role of science and technology in innovating and developing the current elderly care model. The superposition of "digital divide" and "intergenerational divide" makes the elderly more disadvantaged. When most people enjoy the convenience of digital life, the elderly group is "unable to move".  The development of science and technology has changed people's lifestyle, and the elderly should also become the beneficiary group. It is, therefore, necessary to provide sustainable science and technology education for the elderly to help them cross the "digital divide". From the perspective of the future development trend, the new generation of elderly people will have a higher sense of identity and tolerance for science and technology, and will be more interested and able to use science and technology products in their lives. Therefore, using science and technology or digital technology to help the elderly will be a major trend of elderly care in the future.

Photo/text: Xin Yujia

Reviewed by: Xu Yuebin