The First National Standard of Aged-care Institution Grading Released

On 18th February, the State Market Regulatory Administration and the National Standardization Administration Committee held a press conference and approved the issuance of 646 national standards covering various fields such as road traffic and aged-care services. Among them, the "Classification and Assessment of Aged-care Institutions" puts forward 102 requirements for aged-care institutions, filling the gaps of national standards in this field.

The new standard defines the principles, methods and assessment personnel for rating.

After aged-care institutions voluntarily submit the application to participate in the assessment, personnel who are familiar with relevant laws, policies, and aged-care services will in charge of the rating. The score is divided into 1000 points, including 120 points for the environment, 130 points for facilities and equipment, 150 points for operation and management, and 600 points for services. The assessment is divided into five grades, from low to high are the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth. The higher the number of grades, the stronger the comprehensive ability of the aged-care institutions. The rating mark is valid for three years from the date of issuance of the certificate. After the expiration, the aged-care institution should apply to the assessment agency for review.

In addition, the new standard also stipulates the space allocation of the aged-care institutions, requiring that the average usable area of the elderly indoor beds should not be less than 6 square meters, and the single-person living room use area should not be less than 10 square meters. At the same time, emergency room calling devices should be installed in the living room and bathroom space or wearable emergency calling equipment should be provided for the elderly.

The classification and assessment of aged-care institutions will be implemented on July 1, 2019.

By the end of 2018, there were 29,800 registered age- care institutions nationwide and 3.928 million institutional beds.

[Yada Insight]

As the aging population continues to intensify and the demand for aged-care services grows rapidly, aged-care institutions are increasingly becoming an important way for the elderly living. The issue of the classification and assessment of aged-care institutions has filled the national gap in this field. Through objective, notarized and transparent evaluation, it is beneficial to guide the aged-care institutions to provide quality services, reduce the information asymmetry and facilitate people to choose a satisfactory aged-care institution .