2018 Experience Exchange Meeting of Elderly Rehabilitation

In the light of the spirit of The 19th Session of National Congress of The Communist Party of China and the deployment of promoting quality and improving efficiency of senior service industry during the 13th Five Year Plan, and further promote the exchange of senior rehabilitation service industry, improve professional skills and service level of senior rehabilitation service, hosted by China Association of Social Welfare and Senior Service(CASWSS), organized by Xi’an Association of Elderly Medical Service and Senior Care, Xi’an Medical Service and Senior Care Quality Control Center, co-hosted by Xi’an Union Hospital and Xi’an Senior Rehabilitation Center, 2018 Experience Exchange Meeting of Elderly Rehabilitation Service & Opening Ceremony of National Elderly Rehabilitation Training Preofessional Skills Training Project was held on 19th October in ancient captial Xi’an.

As an important part of Double Ninth Festival series events organized by CASWSS, the exchange meeting and training project has drawn highly attention of leaders from CASWSS and Xi’an Association of Elderly Medical Service and Senior Care. Liu Youxue, Vice-president of CASWSS, Rui Hairong, President of Xi’an Association of Elderly Medical Service and Senior Care, Gao Feng, Doctor of China Rehabilitation Research Center(CRRC), Xu Minli，Director of Xi’an Senior Rehabilitation Center, Luo Yimin, Senior Assistive Devices Rehabilitation Engineer of National Research Center Rehabilitation Technical Aids(NRRA), Deputy Director of Aged Care Architecture Research Center of Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Senior Interior Architect attended the meeting. Liu Songhuai, Researcher of CRRC presided over the meeting.

In his opening remarks, Vice-President Liu Youxue extended his sincere welcome and greetings to all the trainees came from afar, and expressed his appreciation to all the present experts. He pointed out that as China’s population ages, rehabilitation care for the elderly has become an important issue in senior service industry. Recently, Basic Norms on Service Quality of Insitutions for the Aged and Level Classification and Assessment of Insitutions for the Aged(Exposure Draft), issued by Ministry of Civil Affairs(MCA) put forward specific demands on rehabilitation services provided by insitutions for the aged. This exchange meeting and training are to further industrial exchange and interaction, raise the insitutions’ awareness of the importance of elderly rehabilitation services, learn the advanced experience and enhance rehabilitation services skills, so as to solve the contradiction between the increasing senior service new demands and imbalanced and insufficient professional service, effectively improve rehabilitation services level and promote elderly rehabilitation services professional skills to play a vital role. He wished the exchange meeting and training a complete success.

Gao Feng, Doctor of CRRC shared the current situation and development tendency of China’s rehabilitation service for the aged. He also introduced the results of elderly rehabilitation service mode, service guide, teaching materials and training projects conducted by CRRC under the leadership of Director Li Jianjun from 2011 and working closely with CASWSS, discussed the training issues in futher senior service industry. He emphasised that rehabilitation service goes through the entire aging process, from diseases preventation to interventation to the function improvment after disease occurrence, and the later rehabilitation care. He spoke highly of CASWSS for organizing and developing and researching service models, such as elderly care, elderly rehabilitation, elderly home-based care, elderly dementia care, skills training materials and related professional training, as well as trained a large number of practical professions for aging industry.    

Rui Hairong, President of Xi’an Association of Elderly Medical Service said that this exchange meeting is not only an effective way to realize resources platforms sharing, but the foundation and guarantee of giving fully play to its professional advantages, cultivating talents, raising industrial level, creating an integrated eco-circle of medical service, rehabilitation and senior service. President Rui shared China’s current situation of aging and the integrated model and concept of medical service, rehabilitation and senior service, introduced the practice and exploration undertaken by Xi’an Union Hospital under this model, and said it is an honor for a newly established association to organize a national experience exchange meeting, and they cherished this opportunity. President Rui also hoped everyone can take advantage of the opportunity to study hard, fully exchange and enhance friendship, apply the knowledge of professional skills in practical work, actively promote the professional service level of their own institutions for the aged, and try their utmost to provide better services for the elderly.

Xu Minli, Director of Xi’an Senior Rehabilitation Center expressed his deep gratitude to CASWSS, CRRC and NRRA for coming to the grass level, and spreading new concept as well as training practical rehabilitation skills talents. He thought this exchange meeting provides timely help and offer a direction guidance and technical support to improve senior service quality and guarantee elders’ health. He elaborated how to create senior service brands, how to make insitutions for the aged grow stronger and larger, and also introduced experience of providing quality rehabilitation service adopting humanistic care of the Xi’an Senior Rehabilitation Center.

Luo Yimin, Senior Assistive Devices Rehabilitation engineer of National Research Center Rehabilitation Technical Aids(NRRA), deputy director of Aged Care Architecture Research Center of Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Senior Interior Architect delivered a speech on the theme of Theory and Practice of Environment, Technical Aids and Skills Suitable for Elders. He pointed out that environment that is suitable for elders is the first health issue in senior service. Solving this problem means major part of senior service problems is solved. With the help of technical aids that are suitable for the elders(functional furniture suitable for elders), the establishment of an appropriate environment, and the application of skills suitable for the elders (adequate environmental improvement technology), functional barriers due to diseases and physical degeneration of disabled elders can be overcome, and then regain the ability to take care of themselves. This is not only a technical method for the elders to re-engage into society, but the sole way to make up for the ability of care-givers, reduce care risk and improve risk efficiency. The grow trend of technical aids suiable for elders first of all suits living environment space of Chinese elders, secondly, it is coordinated with the living room furniture environment; thirdly, it satisfies the human body structure characteristics of the Chinese elders; finally, it must realize the serialization of products, the systemization of services, and the installation without engineering. the furniture style of appearance, the Chinese elementalization in design and the intelligent control.    

In the coming five days, the lecturers will take Elderly Rehabilitation Trainer, developed jointly by CASWSS and CRRC, as the training material to give theoretical and practical courses.

The exchange meeting and the opening ceremony of the training were warm. Experts and trainees expressed the importance of elderly rehabilitation care in various forms, shared achievements and experiences to each others, analyzed the status quo and prospects of  rehabilitation service, discussed the development goals and direction of elderly rehabilitation care, successfully established a platform to promote industrial learning and exchange.