Policy Development on Upskilling/Reskilling Older Population Care Staff in China

Abstract

Mainland China has been concerned about the national growth rate of older adults aged 60 or above. The rapid growth of the cohort of older adults will significantly burden the Chinese healthcare system as they are at higher risk of suffering from chronic illnesses and functional disabilities. In geriatrics, aged populations often endure a wide range of diseases, dysfunctions, and cognitive impairment, so the corresponding healthcare services needed for them are substantial. The rise in the older adults' life expectancy has compounded the burden of the healthcare system in mainland China in the long term. In this narrative essay, it is important to discuss how the state should assume a higher share of relevant responsibilities, by assessing how Chinese policymaking has been transformed to better satisfy the older population's care and healthcare needs in mainland China. It is also pivotal to focus on analysing relevant Chinese policy development within the most recent dozen years to address how China's state and local governments have been progressing in promptly providing health and older population care services to older Chinese adults. Because of the supply shortage and low quality of older population caregivers and alternative professionals, it is necessary to discuss and highlight the need to reskill or upskill relevant caregivers. As the trend of rural-to-urban labour migration continues, working adults of rural origins increasingly cannot provide domestic older population care, and human investment in training caregivers is an urgent task of Chinese policymaking. Therefore, how Chinese policymaking encourages upskilling or reskilling relevant caregivers is examined in this narrative essay.

Keywords: China; elderly care; healthcare; older adults; policy development.

Figure 1

The Timeline of Older Population Care Policy Development on Human Resources Development in China.