'Grid system' helps ensure well-being of elderly residents

Caregivers call on seniors at home to chat, see to medical needs

Li Yuanyuan, a social worker in Beijing, learned that the 92-year-old Li Yajun was in need of some medicine while paying her a visit on Wednesday.

She responded by using a wireless terminal to send a message to a "grid service center", where she could enlist the help of social workers and ultimately ensure the elderly resident got the pills she was requesting. Beijing's urban management system divides communities into grids.