Brief introductionof Leling:  Shijingshan Leling Social Work Service Center for Senior Citizens of Beijing (“Leling” for short) is located in Shijingshan District in Beijing. It was established in 2006, formerly known as the Leling Cooperative, and is committed to promoting community services for homecare of the elderly in China as a non-profit organization. Leling provides community support network, professional tending, and poverty reduction services through their professional social workers, psychologist, attendees, and community support volunteers; and their vision is “Let old people enjoy their best time with their families.”

Community-based Care Industry Development Mechanism Program:

The aging of society in China will create a number of challenges, currently, there are 185 million people over the age of 60, or 13.7% of the population. It is estimated that a quarter of Chinese people will be over the age of 60 by 2030.

It is estimated that there are nearly10 million people reaching the age of 60 every year, creating more and more single elders with “empty nests”. According to research, 96%-97% of people over 60 choose to spend their years at home or in the community, while the rest choose residential care. The nursing home industry already has a developed model, but the community but home-based care service is still in the early stages of development. As a result of policy and social reasons, as well as the lack of capacity for community and home-based care organizations, the development of the industry has yet to mature.
This program is aimed at the research on the current need of community-based care industry, thus support some of the early-stage community-based care organizations to grow and develop. It is also aimed to enhance the mutual support among peer organizations, and attract the attention from the government and media, thus gain more strong policy back-up and then gain the integrated development of the whole community-based care industry.

Yifang Foundation is the sole sponsor of this program.