In Longbao Community, Lintou Town, Hanshan District, Ma’anshan City, the embedded elderly care service project, led by the Lintou Town government, has completed its renovation and will officially commence operations by the end of June 2025. The total investment for this project is 8.1 million yuan, transforming the original office building of the provincial Dongguan Cement Factory, which covers 2039 square meters, into a facility with 60 nursing beds, integrating seven major service functions including daytime care, medical care, rehabilitation, and intelligent services, becoming the first community embedded elderly care demonstration project in Ma’anshan City with deep involvement from the township government.
Government Platform + Resource Integration
Transforming Idle Assets into Livelihood Projects
The old site of the cement factory office building has now completed its age-friendly renovation: anti-slip flooring in the corridors; a new barrier-free elevator connecting all floors; health data collection devices installed in nursing rooms, with a control room monitoring the health status of the elderly around the clock; and various functional areas such as a chess room, fitness area, and dining hall. “This was originally an idle office building. The Lintou Town government attracted elderly care institutions to settle here, transforming idle assets into elderly care resources through a model of ‘government subsidizing a bit, institutions raising a bit,'” said the director of the Civil Affairs Office of Lintou Town. The project has received 500,000 yuan in subsidy funds from higher authorities, with the remaining 7.6 million yuan raised by the Longbao Community Comprehensive Elderly Care Service Center, forming an investment mechanism of ‘government-led, social participation.’
By upgrading fire safety facilities, adding elevators, and enhancing interior and exterior decorations and functional zoning, the project focuses on strengthening safety and age-friendly features. The town government has established a special working group to oversee the entire process from site selection to construction acceptance, ensuring that the project strictly adheres to fire safety standards and barrier-free design concepts, achieving full compliance. “We not only want to build it but also ensure that the elderly can use it with peace of mind,” said the responsible person from Lintou Town. After completion, the project will be operated by a professional institution, with the government supervising service quality to ensure that the livelihood project is ‘grounded and sustainable.’
Integration of Medical and Elderly Care + Precise Services
Solving the ‘Last Mile’ of Rural Elderly Care
The Lintou Town government has partnered with Hanshan Kangda Hospital to inject the core of ‘integrated medical and elderly care’ into the project: equipping it with medical devices such as blood pressure monitors and blood glucose meters, establishing health records for the elderly, and regularly arranging family doctor visits. The intelligent service platform also enables 24-hour monitoring of vital signs, with automatic alerts for abnormal data, ensuring that technology safeguards elderly care. “My mother has difficulty walking, and now she can see a doctor and have meals right at her doorstep, which gives us peace of mind while we work outside,” said Mr. Zhang, a resident of Longbao Community.
In response to the psychological characteristics of rural elderly people who are ‘unwilling to leave home and rely on familiar social networks,’ the project employs health data collection devices that can be installed at home, connecting to the backend system of the elderly care institution, allowing them to enjoy intelligent elderly care services at home. Specially set ‘elderly meal assistance points’ will provide three meals at ‘heartwarming prices’ and offer home delivery services for elderly individuals with mobility issues. This ’embedded’ elderly care model not only avoids the sense of alienation typical of traditional nursing homes but also compensates for the lack of professionalism in home-based elderly care, becoming a ‘transitional solution’ for rural elderly care.
Pilot First + Long-term Planning
Sketching the Blueprint for Town-wide Elderly Care Services
As the first embedded elderly care project in Hanshan County, its implementation is closely related to the aging situation in Lintou Town. According to statistics, the proportion of residents aged 60 and above in the town reaches 31.5%, and existing elderly care institutions are mostly public and have a large service radius, making it difficult to meet the demand for ‘nearby elderly care.’ After the project is operational, it will cover Longbao Community and the original Dongguan area, forming a demonstration model of a ’15-minute elderly care service circle.’
Lintou Town will use this project as a pilot to explore the promotion of the ‘three embeddings’ experience: facility embedding, utilizing idle village (community) houses to build small elderly care institutions; service embedding, integrating property management, social work, and other forces to provide home care; and resource embedding, promoting cooperation between medical and health institutions and elderly care institutions. The main responsible person of the town stated that the elderly care project is not only a cornerstone of livelihood but also a key to stimulating the vitality of the rural ‘silver economy.’ In the future, it will explore a diversified operation model of ‘elderly care + public welfare + marketization,’ aiming to allow the elderly to enjoy their later years in a familiar environment, finding joy in it.
Source| Ma’anshan Daily
Editor| Shu Jian
Reviewer| Huang Wei嵬