Duration: from 11/2023 to 02/2024
Scientific Coordinator: Amina Pereno
Project Type: Non-commercial collaborative agreement
PoliTO Role: Project collaborator
This project aims to analyse, from a systemic design perspective, the challenges and issues in delivering healthcare services within functional communities based on elderly care institutions. The goal is to study the content, forms, processes, operational mechanisms, and policy support for general practitioner services tailored to these communities.
The objective is to develop a scalable service model that facilitates connections between services, information exchange, and resource sharing across the “5 beds” allocated to elderly patients: beds for home care, beds for institutional care, beds for home care for nostalgia, medical treatment beds (in first- and second-level hospitals within the area), and palliative care beds (end-of-life care). This model seeks to establish a mutually sustainable linkage model.
The Jing’an District has become one of the first areas in Shanghai to experience significant population ageing, with the elderly population in the Linfen community notably higher than the city and district averages. Once considered the “shantytown kingdom” in northern central Shanghai, this area underwent transformation following the merging of Jing’an and Zhabei districts in November 2015 to form the new Jing’an District. Despite economic progress and youth migration, the shantytown legacy remains. By the end of 2022, the over-60 population in Jing’an District exceeded 380,000, representing 41.5% of the district’s registered population. Those over 80 numbered 54,700, constituting 14.5% of the elderly population and 6% of the total population.
To address ageing challenges, the Linfen Community Healthcare Service Center, introduced an innovative approach by identifying the residents of elderly care institutions as a crucial yet underserved group in terms of medical resource needs. These individuals often lack the familial support necessary to access medical visits.
This comprehensive, multidimensional, and multimodal study identified the real healthcare needs of the elderly and the main issues in service delivery. A theoretical framework for linking the five beds and a list of specific service models and content were developed.
A survey conducted in December 2023 by Shanghai’s Department of Civil Affairs on elderly care institutions preliminarily evaluated the “five beds linkage” project. The results showed satisfaction levels of 57.3% among administrative staff, 71.6% among medical staff, and 83.2% among residents and their families.
Involved Structure
- DAD, Department of Architecture and Design
Partners
- Linfen Street Community Health Service Center (Jing’an, Shanghai)
- Ergonomics Design Research Lab of Tongji University
Location
- Jing’an District, Shanghai, China
Project Team
- Amina Pereno (DAD), Scientific Director for Politecnico di Torino
- Wen Lu (DAD), Project Coordinator for Politecnico di Torino
- Silvia Barbero (DAD), Politecnico di Torino Research Team
- Jing Chen, Project Leader and Scientific Director, Tongji University
- Liu Long, Supervisor, Tongji University
- Haoyong Deng, Project Executioner, Tongji University
- Qi Chen, Activity Coordinator, Linfen Street Community Health Service Center
- Min Hu, Project Initiator, Linfen Street Community Health Service Center
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
1. No poverty
3. Good health and well-being
11. Sustainable cities and communities