On March 20, the Beijing Municipal Health Commission held the Aging Health Work Conference 2024. The conference was held aiming to thoroughly implement the decisions and arrangements of the municipal party committee and government, fully implement the spirit of the "Medical Service, Medical Insurance and Medicine Linkage" work conference of Beijing, review and summarize the elderly health work in recent years and deploy the work tasks for 2024. Ding Weihua, Director of the Aging Health Department of the Municipal Health Commission and first-level researcher, made a work report. Wang Xiaoe, first-level inspector of the Municipal Health Commission, attended the meeting and delivered a speech.
The aging health work of Beijing is based on "active aging concept for healthy aging" as the fundamental guideline. Beijing coordinately promotes the national strategy of actively responding to population aging and the national strategy of healthy China, focusing on the functional positioning of the capital, insisting on taking the health of the elderly as the center, and constantly strengthening the health service support system for the elderly and deepening of integrated medical and nursing care services.
The aging and health policy system is becoming more and more improved. A series of supporting policies have been formulated, including the "Implementation Plan for Beijing to Actively Respond to Population Aging (2021-2025)", "Implementation Opinions on Strengthening the Capital's Aging Work in the New Era", "Implementation Plan for Beijing to Establish and Improve the Elderly Health Service System", and "Implementation Plan for Beijing to Deepen the Development of Medical and Nursing Integration". A guidance center for elderly health and medical and nursing integration services at the municipal and district levels has been established, and a "1+17+N" working mechanism has been established, further improving the elderly health service system. Beijing took the lead in China to create elderly-friendly medical institutions, increasing from 22 in 2018 to 595 by the end of 2023, with a increasing rate of 98.7%. The construction of geriatric medicine departments has achieved significant results, and the proportion of geriatric medicine departments established in public secondary and above comprehensive hospitals has reached 85%. Beijing took the lead in China to carry out the standardized construction of elderly health services in community health service institutions. After three years of efforts, the compliance rate exceeded 96%. Elderly health services continue to improve in volume and quantity. Focusing on disability prevention, we have carried out the elderly disability health management project, and screened 324,000 key elderly people in total. Focusing on dementia prevention, we have carried out brain health physical examination projects, and screened 922,000 people in total. Focusing on oral health, we have carried out the "good oral health" project for the elderly, and provided free oral health examinations for more than 60,000 elderly people in total. Focusing on mental health, we have carried out pilot projects for psychological care for the elderly in 70 communities (villages). Elderly health facilities have become more complete. Starting from 2022, the construction of elderly care centers and hospice centers will be included in the municipal government's livelihood projects for three consecutive years, and a total of more than 100 million yuan of special funds have been invested. At present, 21 elderly care centers have been transformed and constructed, with 500 new beds. 12 hospice centers have been transformed and constructed, with 600 new beds. By the end of 2023, nearly 100 medical institutions in Beijing have registered hospice departments, and more than 1,100 hospice beds have been set up. The integration of medical and nursing services has been further deepened. The "Beijing Implementation Plan for Further Promoting the Development of Medical-Nursing Integration" was issued. Relying on the Beijing Medical-Nursing Integration Remote Collaboration Platform, it provides science lectures, personnel training, care guidance, follow-up medicine delivery, remote consultation and other services for medical-nursing integration institutions. Organize and carry out the creation of national medical-nursing integration demonstration areas and demonstration institutions. Chaoyang District and Haidian District were rated as national medical-nursing integration demonstration areas, and 3 institutions were rated as national medical-nursing integration demonstration institutions. So far, four medical-nursing integration service models have been formed, namely, medical and nursing institutions signing contracts for cooperation, nursing institutions running medical institutions, medical institutions carrying out nursing services, and medical services extended to communities and families. All 571 nursing institutions in Beijing have established a "one-to-one" docking mechanism with grassroots health service institutions, and medical services in nursing institutions have achieved full coverage. The construction of an elderly-friendly society has been further deepened. The creation of exemplary elderly-friendly communities has been promoted. A total of 93 communities in Beijing have been titled national exemplary elderly-friendly communities.
In 2024, Beijing will focus its elderly health work on improving the health services for the "senior elderly", comprehensively strengthen the construction of the health service system for the elderly, implement the livelihood projects of the municipal government, and continue to promote the transformation and construction of hospice care centers and elderly care centers. The "Health Knock Action" for disabled elderly people will be carried out to promote the development of door-to-door medical and health services for the elderly at home and long-term care services for the disabled elderly. Beijing will improve the health literacy of the elderly and organize activities such as Elderly Health Publicity Week and Care for the Aged Month. More than 50 community lectures will be held on elderly health to strengthen education on elderly health knowledge and relevant policy publicity. Alzheimer's prevention and treatment promotion actions and "Koufu" pilot projects will be carried out to expand the scope of pilot projects for psychological care for the elderly. The construction of geriatric medicine service capabilities will be strengthened. By the end of 2024, the proportion of geriatric medicine departments in general hospitals above level two in each district will be over 80%. To implement national basic public health services for the elderly, the rate of standardized health management for the elderly in urban and rural communities for the elderly 65 years and above shall not be less than 65%, the rate of integrated medical and nursing care services for the elderly 65 years and above, and the health service rate of disabled elderly people 65 years and above is no less than 85%. The capacity building of integrated medical and nursing care institutions will be strengthened. It is necessary to consolidate the "handshake" mechanism between community health service agencies and elderly care institutions and provide services such as health guidance and health inspections. The establishment of the second batch of national integrated medical and nursing care demonstration zones and integrated medical and nursing care demonstration institutions will be organized. The construction of the ability to integrate home medical and nursing care and the construction of the corresponding team will be strengthened. A training project to improve the capabilities of integrated medical and nursing care personnel will be arranged to train at least 500 practitioners in integrated medical and nursing care institutions.
At the meeting, representatives from five units including Haidian District Health Commission, Chaoyang District Health Commission, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing Geriatric Hospital and Chaoyang District Cuigezhuang Community Health Service Center made exchange speeches respectively. More than 150 people, including responsible persons including relevant department heads of the Municipal Health Commission, leaders and department heads of the district health commissions and economic and technological development zones, heads of municipal and district elderly health and integrated medical care guidance centers, heads of transformation and construction institutions for hospice care centers and elderly care centers in 2023 and 2024 and representatives of relevant social organizations, attended the meeting.