The Kuan Cheng district of the city of Changchun, Jilin province began providing homecare assistants two years ago to provide door-to-door services to help the elderly who cannot get out.

The city government says that it has more than 1.3 million people aged 60 or older, accounting for 17.4 percent of its total population. Traditionally, elderly parents would stay in their own home or go live with their adult children, with few of them choosing to stay in a nursing homes, partly because of the cost.

Caregiver giving Qin Yongzeng a chek-up, in the Yongsheng area of Changchun, on April 12. [Photo by Zhang Nan/xinhua]

Home care for the elderly led to many discussions among delegates at the provincial congressional sessions this past February. One CPPCC delegate who took part in the Jilin congressional sessions, Guan Jin, advocated community-, home-based care service, and said that they combine all sources such as medical care and recreation and that the elderly can get the help they want whenever they need it.

Yongsheng area of that Changchun district opened the home-based care project back in 2014, and has provided door-to-door service in medical assistance, daily care and house-cleaning for those stuck at home since then.

Home-care helper giving the elderly Wang Shuhuan a massage, in the Yongsheng community, on April 12.