Where Older People Live: Living Together, Home Modification and Institutional Options
From UK experience, care for older people includes living together, home modification, sheltered housing and care homes. This article provides reference suggestions for China; please consult local authorities for specific policies.
Machine translation of our Chinese article, without human translation review. Suggestions concerning China remain specific to China.
Automatically reviewed, without human verification. Programmatic checks are not professional review. Seek professional advice where appropriate. Automatically reviewed on 10/4/2026, 7:14:25 AM
Chinese fact summaries and suggestions for China (not a full translation)
Original: Sharing your home: advice for carers - Social care and support guide - NHS · Original language: en
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Facts from the sources
When living together, the number of people in the household and their income may affect the carer's benefits and council tax. View source
A written agreement can be signed, specifying who pays which bills and what happens when the care recipient no longer lives in the same home. View source
The local government or housing association may help pay for home modification costs. View source
Most sheltered housing or retirement housing schemes have a warden or scheme manager and are equipped with an emergency alarm service. View source
Care homes provide personal care, nursing care and/or dementia care. View source
It is usually not permitted for the individual to pay the care home's extra fees (top-up fees); these must be paid by relatives, friends or charities. View source
For older people and families
If you live with an older person, discuss and agree in advance on who will pay daily expenses such as utility bills, food, and so on, to avoid future conflicts.
You can write a simple written agreement specifying the sharing of bills and how arrangements will be made after the older person moves out, signed by both parties.
If you want to modify the older person's room, first ask the community or civil affairs department whether there are subsidies for age-friendly home modification.
When viewing homes, look for community housing for older people that has a warden and emergency alarm buttons.
When choosing a care institution, ask clearly whether it provides personal care, nursing care or dementia care.
If the institution charges extra fees, usually a child, relative or friend should pay on behalf of the older person; do not use the older person's own payment account, and ask about the specific rules.
Do not just listen to promotional claims; visit the site in person, and ask professionals to assess the older person's physical condition and housing conditions.
See what care and community teams can do
The community can compile templates for bill-sharing and negotiation that families living together need to know, as guidance for family care.
Provide model written agreements for families in need, and point out channels for legal consultation.
Liaise with local housing and urban-rural development and civil affairs departments, and sort out the application process and required materials for age-friendly modification subsidies.
In older people's communities or apartments, the UK experience can be used as a reference to establish warden positions and emergency call systems.
Care institutions should clearly distinguish personal care, nursing care and dementia care, and state this in the admission agreement.
For extra fees, payment rules should be made public, clearly defining the boundary between payment by the individual and social assistance, to avoid disputes.
Before implementation, local policies, building safety standards and care qualifications must be verified; foreign practices must not be directly applied.
What needs local assessment
This content is compiled from UK facts and is not current policy in China. The UK's social welfare, housing and care systems differ from those in China, and specific impacts vary by individual and by region. For the modification subsidies, housing plans and other matters mentioned in the article, in China please rely on the latest provisions of local civil affairs, housing and urban-rural development, and sub-district/community authorities. Matters involving structural load-bearing, slip resistance levels, accessibility dimensions and the like must be surveyed and designed on site by professionals. The service scope and payment methods of care institutions must also be based on formal contracts and local regulatory requirements. The proportions in the statistics do not represent individual risk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Information from the NHS website is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This article is this website's independent Chinese compilation and advice, and is not an official NHS translation or content approved by it. Licence: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/
Sources
UK National Health Service (NHS)Was this article helpful?
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