Taking a professional approach to elderly care

CHONGQING — Chen Daming has been working with elderly people for nearly three years in Qijiang district of Southwest China's Chongqing, assessing their abilities and needs.

He is an "elderly ability assessor", a relatively new profession, but one that will potentially make a significant difference in the daily lives of a quickly growing section of society.

The job entails carrying out measurements and assessments of elderly people, recording things such as their physical health, cognitive ability and mental state.

As an important link in the process of providing scientific and accurate care services for the elderly, the profession has become increasingly widespread in China.

Last year, "elderly ability assessor" was officially recognized as a new profession by China's human resources authority.

Chen obtained the elderly ability assessor certificate in 2020. In the past three years, he has helped more than 300 households, offering possibilities for improving the lives of elderly residents in their later years.

"We establish the assessment needs of residential communities and the elderly care institutions, and then go to the homes of the elderly people for on-site evaluation," Chen says.

He notes that the ability assessors will comprehensively evaluate and score the elderly based on four first-level indicators of physiology, psychology, spirit and social participation, and 22 second-level indicators, such as self-care ability, the risk of getting lost and falling, and mental state.

The assessment reports are filed with the community to provide a reference for individual care services.

"It's not an easy job, as it requires not only basic knowledge of nursing and medicine, but also love and empathy," Chen says.

Some elderly people have been bedridden for a long time, unable to speak and accompanied by emotional instability, and some are "unfriendly" due to mental health problems, Chen says. "We need to patiently communicate with them or their family members to learn about, and record, their health conditions."

An "elderly ability assessor" not only records data, but also makes observations.

"We need to hold frequent in-depth exchanges with these people to understand their lives, including their past and current living habits, and conduct regular return visits to adjust the service plan in a timely manner," Chen says.

"Everyone will grow old and every elderly person has the right to enjoy a good quality of life," he adds.

China has one of the fastest-growing aging populations in the world. Official data shows that by the end of 2021, the country had 267 million people aged 60 and above, or 18.9 percent of the total population, while those aged 65 and above accounted for over 14 percent of the population.

The increasing number of elderly people requires more professional assessors, says Chen, adding that official recognition of this profession provides better career prospects for those who are skilled and interested in helping elderly people.

"It's also a new occupation that requires more emotional commitment. If my effort can benefit more families and more seniors, my work will be more meaningful," Chen says.

Xinhua