Xinhua News Agency, Fuzhou, August 9 (Reporter Wu Jianfeng) Against the backdrop of an aging population, rural elderly care services face numerous challenges. Recently, Fujian Province announced a three-year initiative to enhance the quality of rural welfare centers. By the end of 2023, the province aims to establish at least 4,000 rural welfare centers rated three stars or higher, including 400 five-star facilities. All counties (cities, districts) will implement long-term management and maintenance mechanisms for these centers.
Rural Happy Homes are village-level public welfare mutual-aid facilities managed by village (neighborhood) committees, providing services such as meals, cultural and sports activities, leisure entertainment, and daytime care for rural seniors. In recent years, some rural Happy Homes have faced issues including unclear responsibility allocation, inadequate management systems, insufficient funding guarantees, and underutilization of their functions.
Fujian Province has proposed conducting a comprehensive survey of the operational status of existing Rural Happiness Centers, focusing on management models, facility staffing, funding guarantees, functional positioning, and operating hours, while establishing detailed working records. During the survey, localities will distinguish Rural Happiness Centers from general rural elderly care facilities, implement a tick-off management system for identified issues, and analyze the operational status of Rural Happiness Centers within their jurisdictions to formulate renovation and improvement plans.Simultaneously, localities will focus on creating a batch of distinctive, exemplary "One Village, One Happy Home" demonstration brands to leverage their role in driving broader improvements.
Regarding issues of inappropriate siting and service deficiencies in rural Happy Homes, Fujian Province proposes relocating those in remote areas to sites adjacent to village health clinics or similar facilities, implementing integrated construction to meet combined medical and elderly care service needs.Additionally, management and service personnel for these centers will be secured through purchasing rural public welfare positions and government-procured services. The province encourages charitable organizations, social workers, community volunteers, and younger, healthy seniors to provide volunteer services and mutual assistance for the elderly at these facilities.