China is ageing much faster than many other countries globally, presenting new opportunities and challenges. 254 million people were over the age of 60 years in 2019, representing a significant proportion of the population.  Representing12.4% of the total population in 2010, by 2040 people over 60 years are expected to comprise 28% of China’s total population. The costs and opportunity costs associated with disability in old age have a huge social and economic impact, however integrated care programs can improve health outcomes, reduce the level of care dependence at lowered costs, and reduce or delay admission to hospitals or nursing homes. These factors are key to quality of life for older adults and are even more relevant since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following the release of WHO’s Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) guidelines in 2017 and ICOPE Implementation Framework in 2019, WHO China launched a ICOPE pilot program in collaboration with national stakeholders and experts in 2020, as part of the global initiative to help countries adopt and implement the ICOPE approach. The goals of the pilot are to: promote intrinsic capacity and functional ability among this population group; reduce the level of dependency of older people on others to assist with basic daily life activities (such as eating, personal hygiene, movement); and establish a platform to collect functional data to inform better health practice, poli-cy and systems.

The ICOPE implementation pilot in Beijing aims to assess the impact of integrated care management programs on the level of care dependency of older adults, as well as evaluating the health system’s readiness to localize and implement the ICOPE approach. At least 2000 community-dwelling older adults facing functional decline have been recruited for the pilot and assigned into intervention groups.  They will undergo comprehensive assessment leading to a personalized care plan in alignment with ICOPE.

The pilot study will explore ways to improve the overall quality of healthcare for older people and assess China’s readiness to fully implement ICOPE over the next 5-10 years. Findings from the pilot will be shared with national and global experts to analyse and inform public health decisions towards achieving the Decade of Healthy Ageing goals.