Convalescent needs create growing market

As old age is associated with declining health and severe disease, how to get good care at home while not placing a burden on their children has become an issue for many Chinese in their twilight years, especially those who have an only child.

Luckily, more services are becoming available to assist the elderly.

In May, Home Instead Senior Care, the world's leading provider of non-medical in-home care services for seniors, announced they would launch a pilot operation to provide in-home personal care and companionship services in Wuhan, Hubei province, in June, and in Shenzhen in the near future.

According to the company's survey in 2013, about 5 percent of the Chinese population could benefit from such in-home senior care services, and at least 13.5 million seniors are extremely likely to use such services.

The most in-demand service would be Alzheimer's and other dementia care, the survey suggests.

Right At Home, another US-based franchiser of home healthcare services for the elderly, has already opened offices in several Chinese cities, including Beijing, Chengdu and Hangzhou.

The two companies all claim their caregivers are carefully selected, and regularly undergo specialized training sessions to meet their clients' needs.

Li Boying, an 87-year-old high blood pressure patient recovering from an oral tumor, lives happily alone in her three-bedroom apartment in downtown Beijing.

She credits her worry-free life to professional in-home caregivers she hires, who are all "young, loving and disciplined professionals".