From hot meals delivered directly to seniors to consumption vouchers precisely issued to individuals; from barrier-free home renovations tailored to each household to innovative pilot programs in integrated medical and elderly care—these practical measures for the elderly are turning the promise of "supporting the aged" into a tangible daily reality.
This year, Xianyang City has focused on key areas such as meal assistance services, consumption subsidies, age-friendly home modifications, and the integration of medical and nursing care. By expanding coverage, enhancing quality, and innovating models, the city is accelerating the development of an elderly care service system that spans urban and rural areas and remains easily accessible. The goal is to ensure more seniors can enjoy a warm and high-quality later life right at their doorstep.
Where to Begin
The "Happy Meal Time" at the doorstep: Elderly meal services have evolved from "basic availability" to "superior quality." Every day at 11:30 AM, the Hemei Elderly Restaurant in Chang'ao Village, Lingqian Town, Sanyuan County, opens its doors on time. Braised pork, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and stir-fried green beans—a meal of one meat dish, two vegetables, and a soup, with a menu that changes weekly. "The food here is soft and well-cooked, suits my taste, and I eat happily," said Xie Laiwa, an octogenarian, adding that beyond the delicious meals, sitting together with others allows for pleasant conversation. Since its operation began in November 2025, the Chang'ao Village restaurant has consistently served meals to over 40 elderly residents daily, accumulating more than 16,000 meal services. A small eatery has brought warmth to the golden years of its patrons.
In 2025, the city established 161 elderly meal assistance points. This year, an additional 125 demonstration points have been built at the town and subdistrict level, along with the upgrade of 28 points in the main urban areas of cities and counties. Both tasks are now 96% complete, weaving an increasingly dense meal assistance network covering urban and rural regions. Diverse approaches to elderly meal services are taking root across the area. Weicheng District has already established 15 demonstration restaurants for elderly care meal assistance, continuously refining its citywide service point layout. Xitou Village in Zhanghong Town, Xunyi County, has joined forces with neighboring villages to explore a new model of "town-society operation with enterprise support" based on the collective economy. In Yuyuan Village, Xianggong Town, Changwu County, an idle happiness courtyard has been repurposed into a meal assistance point, offering a dual service of "on-site dining and home-delivered meals." One by one, these dining points are warming the evening years of seniors across both city and countryside with hot, nourishing food.
Visible and Solid Safeguards
A policy "combination punch" is delivering precise benefits to the elderly. From consumption subsidies for disabled seniors to home modifications in old residential areas, from free bus rides to the construction of elderly care facilities, a comprehensive set of preferential policies is showing tangible results. Starting this January, Xianyang has been issuing elderly care service consumption subsidies for seniors with moderate to severe disabilities. The subsidies target those professionally assessed as having moderate or higher disabilities. Consumption vouchers are issued electronically to personal "Civil Affairs Link" accounts, covering 40% of institutional service costs and 50% of home-based service costs, with a monthly cap of 800 yuan per person. On January 9th, two eligible seniors with moderate disabilities in Xunyi County successfully received their vouchers through the platform, with one completing redemption the same day. "The policy arrived at the right time, bringing services right to our doorstep," remarked a family member of one elderly recipient. To date, the city has distributed 110,000 elderly care service vouchers, with a total redemption value exceeding 28 million yuan.
Improvements to physical infrastructure are progressing in tandem. The North Living Area of Shaanxi Cotton Factory No. 8, built in the 1980s, was once a "problem community" with potholed roads and aging pipelines. Following the completion of renovation works, the community has been transformed: the main roads now feature slip-resistant asphalt, accessibility ramps have been added at building entrances, and handrails and motion-sensor night lights have been installed in stairwells. "The exterior looks new, and the interior feels warmer. A day care center has also been newly built in the community, making life much more convenient," said resident Ma Juan. Starting from May 1st this year, 36 bus routes in the central urban area now offer free rides to residents aged 65 and above, covering all core commercial zones, top-tier hospitals, parks, and public squares. This policy has resolved the difficulties elderly people faced with expensive and inconvenient travel, noticeably increasing their outings for medical care, socializing, and cultural activities, thereby enriching their later years.
Additionally, 45 qualified elderly care institutions now pay residential rates for water, electricity, gas, and heating, cutting their average monthly operating expenses by around 30%. This has effectively reduced daily operational costs, helping to stabilize the supply and enhance the quality of care services. Safety measures for these institutions have also been stepped up. A multi-departmental joint effort has led to a special rectification campaign: 7 substandard institutions have been shut down, 43 have passed fire safety inspections, regular anti-fraud publicity campaigns have been conducted for seniors, and 12 fraud cases targeting the elderly have been cracked with the public security bureau, recovering 530,000 yuan in losses. These visible safety guarantees ensure that seniors can reside in comfort and peace of mind.
Exploring New Models
From institutional care to diversified integration. When elder care is no longer confined to "living in a nursing home," Xianyang is devising new solutions. Home hospital beds, integrated medical and care services, and the extension of institutional resources into communities—these novel, integrated models of elderly care are gradually being rolled out. Weicheng District is piloting a "five-bed linkage" program, which connects home care beds, nursing home beds, and hospital beds. Since the pilot began in September 2025, home hospital beds have been established for over 40 eligible elderly patients, offering door-to-door diagnosis, rehabilitation guidance, and dressing changes. "Previously, going back and forth to the hospital and waiting in line to register would take up most of the day. Now, medical staff come to our home for dressing changes and rehabilitation training, completely solving our family's biggest caregiving headache," said Aunt Guo, a resident of Yuanjingyuan Community on Wenlin Road, Weicheng District.
Meanwhile, Liquan County and Binzhou City are advancing pilot reforms for "co-construction of two institutions" and "open-door operations," extending institutional care resources to communities and homes. Liquan County has taken the lead in establishing regional medical-elderly care service centers within the health centers of Shide, Zhaozhen, and Zhaoling towns. "The environment here is good, the service is considerate, and I feel very settled staying here," said Grandpa Guo, a resident of the Shide Regional Medical-Elderly Care Service Center. The center operates on a model of "one team, two nameplates, integrated management," allowing rural seniors to access one-stop "elderly care plus medical" services right at their doorstep. At both the city and county levels, coordinated mechanisms for aging work have been fully established and are functioning effectively. Leveraging local universities and elderly care enterprises, the city has created a smart elderly care industry-education integration community, developing a "government-enterprise-school" talent cultivation mechanism. Regular training sessions for caregivers, assessors, and fire safety personnel are held, using professional expertise to safeguard the silver-haired population. To date, the city has built a three-tier elderly care service network spanning counties, towns, and villages, comprising 12 county-level elderly care service centers, 87 town/subdistrict regional service centers, and 1,323 community-embedded service stations. The city's 45 elderly care institutions house a total of 6,438 beds, of which 4,629 are nursing beds, accounting for 72%. Coverage of town/subdistrict regional service centers has reached 70%, surpassing the provincial target by 10 percentage points.
Today, elderly care services in Xianyang are shifting from "basic guarantees" to "high-quality supply." The warmth of a meal, the precision of a consumption voucher, and the thoughtfulness of a home modification all converge into this report card on livelihood initiatives for the elderly—a testament to the city's solemn commitment to every senior citizen.