Legislators consider law on elderly care

Shanghai’s legislators are considering the city’s first law on elderly-care services.

A draft law was given a second reading by the members of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai People’s Congress, the city’s legislature, on Friday.

It requires a floor area of community facilities for the elderly of not less than 40 square meters per thousand residents, subject to adjustment with the development of the economy and society.

All new residential complexes should include such facilities, and current facilities below the new legal standard should be improved, according to the draft law.

To ensure land for such facilities, land reserved for public welfare purposes shall be prioritized to be used in their construction if it meets planning and environmental protection requirements, the draft law says.

It supports medical institutions to provide elderly-care services and elderly-care service providers to offer medical services. It also supports foreign investors to provide elderly-care services in Shanghai.

Elderly-care workers are required to present valid health statements, and those with records of discriminating against, insulting, abusing or abandoning elderly people should be banned from working in elderly care.

Elderly-care facilities are required to assign specific workers to health management and make contingency plans for infectious disease outbreaks at facilities as well as to ensure timely reports of patients with infectious diseases or suspected cases to the authorities.

Legislator opinions regarding the draft law focused on incentives for elderly-care workers and their employers and accessible social services for the elderly population.

Zhu Aiqin, a legislator, said the law should also clearly define the age threshold of “highly aged people” and make clear the legal responsibilities of community volunteers who help elderly people.

By the end of last year, Shanghai's elderly population totaled 5.2 million, or 35.2 percent of permanent residents. Around 819,800 of them were 80 years of age or older.