Recently, an app named "Are You Dead" went viral, reflecting the current anxious mentality of the solo-living demographic. This urgent need to be "seen and confirmed safe" is even more pronounced among the elderly living alone, who have become the group most dedicated to daily "check-in" routines in daily life.
"On our check-in platform, the elderly average over 170 days of check-ins, with the longest streak exceeding 1160 days. Among them, there are over 450 individuals aged 90 to 100, and currently, 6 centenarians are active participants," a person in charge of the home-based elderly care business at Ping An Good Doctor recently stated in an interview. "Initially, we were concerned that seniors might be unaccustomed to using smart devices, but we later discovered that some elderly users engage with the devices daily. Data shows that 65% of the elderly participating in the check-in program live alone or are empty nesters."
In their view, this segment of the elderly population craves companionship, desires to experience new devices, acquire new information, wishes to leave a trace in their lives, and hopes to experience different lifestyles in their later years.
Currently, the "check-in" phenomenon not only confirms the elderly's proactive acceptance of smart elderly care services but also signals the broader trend of intelligent transformation in the care industry. Notably, financial institutions focused on elderly care, particularly insurers, are utilizing smart devices as a medium to deploy precise elderly care services, effectively connecting the diverse needs for emotional companionship, safety monitoring, and insurance protection.
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, by the end of 2024, China's population aged 60 and above reached 310 million, accounting for 22% of the total population. Among these seniors, the proportion living alone or as empty nesters continues to rise. For them, the daily check-in serves as a gentle method to combat loneliness and affirm their existence.
From a market observer's perspective, for high-risk emergencies like sudden strokes or falls leading to unconsciousness, the only chance of survival often hinges on the rapid arrival of professional rescue; merely notifying family members is frequently an inadequate solution. Most products currently available on the market often stop at "notification," and many apps that enforce mandatory daily manual "check-ins" can easily lead to missed days and create psychological burdens.
Nowadays, however, the format of earning points through "check-in" routines on home-based elderly care smart devices has been widely accepted by many seniors. This approach reduces psychological pressure while simultaneously enhancing user engagement and stickiness.
Based on a recent experience with the check-in feature of a specific smart device, simply enjoying functions like classical music, learning something new happily, or exchanging points for gifts can complete the day's check-in task. The system prompts that after 14 more consecutive check-ins, 500 points can be earned, which are redeemable for various goods in an integrated mall. In practice, the acceptance of such check-in activities on smart devices among the elderly is increasingly high. Data indicates that the daily check-in for points activity on the aforementioned platform has been running for over 1200 days, with more than 60,000 seniors participating, maintaining an average check-in duration exceeding 170 days.
A case shared by the aforementioned home-based care负责人 is particularly touching: One evening, a 92-year-old user called, saying they couldn't find the check-in location. It turned out the smart device system was undergoing an upgrade that night, leading to some interface adjustments. Unexpectedly, the elderly person remarked, "I must check in every day; it's a sense of ritual for me."
This负责人 noted, "Therefore, we dare not discontinue this activity, because we don't know how many seniors are using this method to record their lives."
This adherence to ritual also provides a new entry point for home-based elderly care services – the need to safeguard security while also tending to emotional well-being.
The elderly's insistence on the ritual of checking in fundamentally represents their active embrace of smart elderly care services. The aforementioned负责人 further added in the interview that besides the check-in function, AI companion chat features are also highly popular among the elderly. "They proactively choose to converse with virtual characters of different styles, such as cute kids or a 'Northeast Big Brother,' and the feedback on the chat experience is consistently 'very interesting.' This reflects the strong underlying need for emotional companionship among the elderly."
Demographic shifts are injecting powerful momentum into the smart elderly care industry. China adds a cohort of 10 million individuals aged 60-65 annually, a growth trend set to continue. Industry insiders predict that by 2035, China will enter a phase of severe aging, with the population aged 60 and above potentially exceeding 400 million, accounting for over one-third of the total population.
"Against the backdrop of accelerating aging, there are significant gaps in supporting resources and service capacity within China's elderly care sector," the aforementioned负责人 admitted. Around the year 2000, care facilities in cities like Beijing were predominantly public nursing homes,普遍 plagued by issues like bed shortages and limited, homogeneous services. It wasn't until around 2010 that market-oriented, high-end elderly care institutions gradually emerged, marking the beginning of a diversified development phase for the industry. Regionally, the distribution of elderly care resources is markedly uneven. Eastern and southern cities face relatively higher degrees of aging; by 2023, 19 provinces had already entered a moderately aging society ahead of schedule, putting greater pressure on medical and elderly care service provision in these regions.
Against this backdrop, the intelligent transformation of elderly care services has become an inevitable trend driven by both policy direction and industry development. In January 2026, eight departments including the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology jointly issued the "Several Measures on Cultivating Elderly Care Business Entities and Promoting the Silver Economy," explicitly advocating strong support for technology-enabled elderly care services. The measures promote the application of big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and BeiDou technology in areas like elderly health monitoring, safety alerts, and personalized services. They encourage the development of the elderly care service robot industry and, addressing needs for daily nursing, emotional companionship, and social support for the elderly both at home and in institutions, foster cross-industry collaboration and technological integration involving robotics, medical rehabilitation, and smart home technologies to provide comprehensive, intelligent support for the elderly.
Positive signals are also emerging from the demand side. A report by Zhongyan Puhua Industrial Research Institute, titled "2026-2030 China Smart Elderly Care Industry Market Panoramic Research and Development Prospect Forecast Report," points out that 35% of the elderly have a monthly income exceeding 5,000 yuan, leading to a surge in demand for high-end services like health management and recreational activities. Furthermore, the phenomenon of "digital reverse mentoring" from children is common, with 85% of adult children willing to purchase smart elderly care devices for their parents, driving a rapid increase in penetration rates within home settings.
From an industry trend perspective, alongside the dominant demand for home-based care and the rise of diverse care models, the service demands of the elderly population are evolving from basic security towards specialization, convenience, and emotional fulfillment. Insurance institutions, leveraging their advantages in capital and resource integration, are accelerating the construction of differentiated health and elderly care service systems through the "insurance + service + technology" model.
The intelligent elderly care service system built by Ping An is characterized by its online, comprehensive, and all-scope nature, forming a capability for uninterrupted service support. Specifically, within the home-based care scenario, Ping An offers professional aging-appropriate modifications and installation of smart hardware. Even if seniors are away from home, they can initiate one-touch call responses via smart speakers. As an important supplementary component, its travel-and-reside care services have been operationalized in communities located in places like Yidu and Huangshan. Initially, about one-third of the rooms have been adapted for aging suitability and智能化, with plans to dynamically increase the number of smart room types based on customer feedback, achieving precise matching between service supply and demand. Currently, the home-based elderly care service network, with "Ping An Butler" as its service hub, covers 100 cities nationwide, including 25 cities added in 2025 alone, representing a growth rate exceeding 33%. Nearly 240,000 customers have qualified for home-based care services, with a 100% response rate for "Smart Guardian" alerts.
Tongfang Global Life Insurance is expanding its health and elderly care footprint through alliance-based operations, partnering with several high-quality elderly care institution communities such as Nanjing Yincheng Kangyang, Beijing Guotou Health, Shanghai CITIC Pension, Guangzhou R&F Yi'an, and Hangzhou Golden Years. These encompass various models including CCRC (Continuing Care Retirement Community), integrated medical-care-rehabilitation, and travel-and-reside care. Clients can enjoy services like priority admission, preferential pricing, quality assurance, and continuous satisfaction tracking through the alliance. Ren Xiaoshu, Assistant General Manager of Tongfang Global Life Insurance, stated that the company plans to expand domestic and international travel-and-reside care resources and introduce smart home-based care, empowering seniors to enjoy their later years in familiar environments through AI technology and smart devices.
Fude Life Insurance's "Better Life Exhibition Halls" achieved comprehensive coverage in the Yangtze River Delta Economic Zone by the end of last year. Aging-appropriate facilities like customized anti-slip handrails and multi-functional electric beds provide convenience for daily living. Assistive devices for easy mobility, such as lightweight travel aids and smart mobility seats, embody the "de-aging" concept, helping seniors overcome physical limitations. Smart devices like EagleTorch AI fundus detection systems enable rapid imaging and accurate assessment, visually demonstrating the innovative outcomes of technology-enabled health management. Chen Li, Assistant General Manager of Fude Life Insurance, mentioned that beyond upgrading projects from "aging-appropriate" to "de-aging," the company will further develop a multi-dimensional health and elderly care service ecosystem in the future, contributing to the development of a modern Chinese-style elderly care industry.
From the industry's perspective, the accelerated deployment of health and elderly care service systems by insurers not only effectively enhances their own core competitiveness but also, through precise services and technological empowerment, provides solid support for the high-quality development of the elderly care industry.