HANGZHOU: For many seniors with mobility issues, a simple shower or bath is a long-forgotten luxury, but not for Yun Hongzhang, 92, thanks to a customized van that provides mobile bathing services. Equipped with a thermostatic bathtub, cozy reclining chairs, barrier-free facilities and fully trained caregivers, the van has delivered baths for about 800 seniors, including Yun, in various districts of Hangzhou, capital of east China’s Zhejiang Province.
Yun lives in a small apartment in Hemu subdistrict, where around 36 percent of registered residents are aged 60 and over, many of them living alone. Taking a shower is something that people often take for granted, but for such elderly residents it can often be quite tricky. Yun and his wife Wu Meizhen live apart from their adult children. With multiple health conditions and shaking hands, Yun finds it hard to bathe himself. “I often use a warm washcloth to wipe his back in our bathroom, which is dim and narrow,” said Wu, 83. “The mobile bathing service helps a lot.” To help elderly people maintain their personal hygiene, in late 2020, the subdistrict collaborated with Hangzhou-based tech company Jiujiu Zhulao to launch a pilot mobile bathing program, as part of China’s efforts to promote elderly care services.
The company spent 400,000 yuan (about 58,767 U.S. dollars) on transforming a recreational vehicle into a mobile bathroom, and hired a bathing assistant with a nursing certificate, a health evaluator and a driver, according to Li Ting, manager of Jiujiu Zhulao. –Agencies
