Wang Lan (left), Changning District director, and Zhu Qinhao, director of the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau, launch the city's first community-level caring standard for seniors with cognitive disorders.

Shanghai’s first community-level caring standard for seniors with cognitive disorders was released in downtownChangningDistrict on Wednesday.

The standard made by theJiangsuRoad Subdistrictcovers community and home care, assessment, entertainment activity, dietary services and caregiver support. It is expected to help establish a standard caring procedure that can be copied and promoted nationwide.

Existing caring systems for seniors with cognitive disorders are insufficient under the rise in demand. The standard can help foster a group of professional caregivers as well as relieve the pressure of family caregivers, according to thesubdistrict.

The standard features an innovative caring model named “HAPPY” (Home, Adaptive, Pressurerelief, Personalize and Accompany) that focuses not only on seniors but also the duties and rights of family members who take care of them.

The standard is part of efforts for the first batch of 28subdistrictsand towns in 10 districts to develop into friendly communities for the elderly with cognitive disorders.

By the end of 2019, the number of residents older than 60 living in Shanghai stood at 5.18 million, or 35.2 percent of city residents.

Shanghai is faced with the challenge of caring for senior citizens who suffer learning, memory and perception disabilities, known as cognitive disorders, and senile dementia as the aging population grows.

The city has an estimated 200,000 seniors suffering from some sort of cognitive disorder, and the figure is rising.

TheJiangsuRoad Subdistrictlaunched a survey in 2018 on the risks of cognitive disorders among over 10,700 seniors in the community and found 6.2 percent were at risk of dementia.

Thesubdistrictthen launched a professional caring project based on the Person Centered Care (PCC) model. The standard was made using the database on seniors at risk, evaluation from the experts and case studies. Experiences in the UK and Japan were taken into account.

It also established a community comprehensive senior care center at 515ChangningRoad, mainly serving disabled, lonely and cognitive disordered seniors.

The center includes a community medical service station, rehabilitation center and home caring station, along with adaycarecenter, which allows the elderly to return home at night.

The 54-bed center has developed a set of innovative therapies and facilities such as nostalgic space, virtual reality, rehabilitation equipment, cognitive training, aromatherapy and music therapy. The non-medicine treatment and services can help delay memory and cognitive decline in the elderly.