Bathing assistants have been added to the new profession, and practitioners are looking forward to more employment support expert suggestions. It is possible to explore the integration of elderly bathing assistance and long-term care insurance nursing work, reduce household consumption, and increase market willingness. To solve the problem of bathing for disabled and semi disabled elderly people, elderly bathing assistants are born to meet the demand. According to the new occupational information released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security on July 31, elderly bath helpers have been added as a new job under the category of elderly care workers. In this regard, practitioners also look forward to receiving more employment support to enable the industry to achieve more standardized development. On July 31st, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, together with the State Administration for Market Regulation and the National Bureau of Statistics, officially released information on 19 new occupations and 28 new job types to the society. Among them, elderly bathing assistants are a new job added under the occupation of elderly care workers and have been included in the national occupational classification ceremony. In order to meet the diverse needs of home-based elderly care and solve the problems of difficult care and bathing for disabled and semi disabled elderly, elderly bath assistants have emerged. According to an interview with the Workers' Daily, after several years of development, the scale of elderly bath helpers has been continuously expanding, and they have relatively independent and mature professional and skill requirements. On August 19th, Grandma Xu, who lives in Jinrun Jiayuan Community, Fengtai District, Beijing, gave this evaluation for her first experience of assisted bathing services, saying "It's been a long time since I took such a comfortable bath. It's really fresh. In the past two months, due to mobility issues caused by a fall, Grandma Xu, who is over 80 years old, has been bedridden for a long time and has not taken a comfortable bath. Grandma Xu's son is already 60 years old and has limited physical strength. He is more worried about not washing properly and is considering finding a professional to come and help. On July 31st, bath helpers Ji Baoyu and Yu Guijiang from Beijing Shunke Jinrun Housekeeping Company arrived at Grandma Xu's house with bathtubs and stretchers. After entering the room, the two immediately put on shoe covers and disinfected themselves, with clear division of labor for preliminary preparation: Ji Baoyu took out equipment such as a blood pressure monitor, finger clip oximeter, thermometer, etc. to measure the physical signs of the elderly, while Yu Guijiang recorded the results in detail on the side, and then handed them over to the family for signature. Through skilled cooperation, the two quickly connected the bathtub to the bathroom water heater and drain, covered it with disposable plastic film, adjusted the water temperature, and slowly lifted the elderly person into the cylinder with the assistance of the lifting bracket. Ji Baoyu explained, "Try not to let the water touch the elderly's chest as much as possible to avoid chest tightness. Elderly people have higher requirements for water temperature, keeping it around 37 degrees Celsius in summer and around 40 degrees Celsius in winter. Slowly entering the water can help them gradually adapt to the water temperature." As it was her first time being helped to take a shower by a stranger, Grandma Xu felt a bit shy and curious. Two bath assistants, one responsible for washing hair and the other for scrubbing, provided her with a very comfortable experience. Assisted bathing usually involves 2 to 3 people providing on-site services, which must include a male homosexual, "said Ji Baoyu. For female customers, the main wash is done by a female helper, while for male customers, a male helper is arranged to do the main wash." The main wash needs to be more careful, with ankles, toe crevices, private areas, etc. being washed dry and clean, and the assistant wash is responsible for assisting on the side. "With professional services, the helper has solved the problems of disabled and semi disabled elderly people and their families, and Ms. Yang, as an only child, also deeply understands this. Last summer, Ms. Yang's father was discharged from the hospital after surgery and has been bedridden for recuperation. "The weather is hot, and the elderly are unwilling to turn on the air conditioning. They can't take a shower every day, and every time they come into the house, they smell something!" Later, she saw on social media that home bathing services cost 400 yuan each time. Ms. Yang said, 'It's not cheap to help my father take a bath alone, but it's worth it to make the elderly feel comfortable.'. Professor Su Yihui from the Department of Sociology at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics stated that the development of the elderly bathing service industry often accompanies the refinement of labor division, and the emergence of new job types reflects the trend of increasingly segmented care markets. The postpartum nanny is responsible for taking care of the mother and newborn, the childcare nanny is responsible for taking care of children aged 0-6, the elderly care worker is responsible for taking care of the elderly, as well as various types of cleaning such as daily cleaning, land reclamation cleaning, and home appliance cleaning... These are all completed by different practitioners. Su Yihui said that people's emphasis on hygiene and elderly health, coupled with the segmentation of the market and the refinement of care needs, has led to the emergence of a new job for elderly bath helpers, which is highly sought after. This is a process of continuous standardization in practice Ms. Yu, the person in charge of Beijing Shunke Jinrun Housekeeping Company, admitted that in the early days of its establishment, the company did not establish bathing assistance as an independent business. In the later development of nursing, cleaning and other businesses, she found that the demand for bathing assistance among the elderly and their children was increasing. So, the company specially purchased professional bath equipment and provided training for bath attendants on how to operate it. Ji Baoyu, who came from Inner Mongolia to work in Beijing, has many years of experience in elderly care. Four years ago, he was introduced to bathing services, and three years ago, he specifically went to Tianjin for a one month skills training program. There are too many contents in the training! It is necessary to master how to turn the elderly over and accurately measure blood pressure, blood sugar, body temperature, etc., "said Ji Baoyu. After attending work two or three times, I gradually mastered a series of professional operations such as disinfection, installing bathtubs, connecting water pipes, and adjusting brackets Aunt Zhou, who has been providing bath assistance services for a year, is a colleague of Ji Baoyu. She remembers feeling a bit nervous when she first helped the elderly take a bath. Seeing that the elderly staff were able to communicate with them freely, she made up her mind to be more outgoing and do this job well. She said, 'These skills are easy to learn, but it's difficult to maintain enthusiasm and patience.' In the process of working, many elderly bath helpers have gradually realized that this is a profession where 'communication and skills are equally important'. At the end of 2021, Kong Dandan founded Jiahejia Elderly Care Service Management Co., Ltd. in Yantai, Shandong, which specializes in providing bathing services for disabled and semi disabled elderly people. The more disabled an elderly person is, the more likely they are to feel shy due to physical exposure, "Kong Dandan said. Bathing therapists need to have skills and a sense of service, pay attention to the emotions and needs of the elderly, and try their best to help those who can. Practitioners are looking forward to more employment support. They hope that relevant departments can continue to refine elderly care subsidies, such as issuing separate bathing subsidies or cooperating with elderly care service units to provide bathing assistance services. After learning about the news of bathing assistants being "included", Ji Baoyu told reporters that he is very happy to see his profession recognized and also looks forward to relevant departments providing corresponding policy support to promote the industry to continue to develop towards standardization and specialization. According to Kong Dandan, in recent years, the market for bath assistance services has become increasingly popular. In 2022, there were only 10 orders per month. In 2023, the monthly orders increased to 30 to 50 orders, and by this year, they have exceeded 100 orders. The peak period is during the Spring Festival, "said Kong Dandan." Although there are more orders, the pricing of 298 to 358 yuan per order has not changed. Although the fees have not changed much, some families and elderly people are not willing to spend 400 yuan to take a shower Ms. Yu also stated that the 398 yuan bath aid fee has not changed much compared to three years ago, while the wages of bath helpers have increased by 1000 yuan, and can only rely on increasing the number of orders to increase income. Su Yihui believes that the inclusion of bath helpers in the new profession has brought more employment opportunities for practitioners in the domestic service industry, but whether it can attract more people to switch to this profession still depends on the development potential of the industry. She suggested that the market could explore the possibility of integrating elderly bathing assistance with long-term care insurance for the elderly, thereby reducing household expenses and ensuring the income of elderly caregivers. At the same time, elderly bath assistants should take the opportunity of being recruited into new professions to enhance diversified nursing skills and create more employment opportunities for themselves. (New Society)