The interior of the Jiading No 1 Social Welfare Institute[Photo/jiading.gov.cn]

Jiading district of Shanghai has recently completed the first-stage construction of its social welfare institute. The upcoming institute is the first district-level welfare institute for the elderly in Jiading, local media reported on Sept 9.

The institute will be operational at the end of 2015 and will help alleviate problems arising from Jiading's rising elderly population. Statistics show that local residents aged 60 and above rose 1.5 percent year-on-year to 172,600 at the end of 2014, which accounts for 29.3 percent of the district's total registered population. Experts have predicted that the year 2030 will witness the peak of Jiading's aging population totaling 237,000.

Covering an area of 38.4 mu (2.6 hectares), the institute will carry out its construction in two stages. Its first-stage project will have a capacity of 498 beds, while the second-stage is slated to start construction in 2016 and finish in 2017.

With an investment of 200 million yuan ($31.4 million), the institute consists of office rooms, an assembly hall for movies and performances, a multifunctional room for training programs, dormitories for the elderly and an infirmary. The infirmary, covering an area of 600 square meters, includes a pharmacy, rescue rooms and recovery rooms.

Unlike other local nursing homes, the institute will focus on housing the elderly who suffered from dementia and lost the ability to live on their own. Chen Junyi, director of the institute, said that they expect to provide the elderly with such problems with professional nursing care and help them have a comfortable and decent life.

Chen also pointed out that they are giving great importance to the recruitment of nurses. Nurses will undergo various training courses on nursing skills and psychology classes as well as a three-month practical training.

In order to deal with the increasing aging population, local authorities had also announced a plan for establishing better elderly support facilities in July. Authorities have a goal of 30 welfare institutions for aged people across district that will make district's total bed capacity over 7,000 at the end of 2015.