| Together with social development, the problem of aging becomes increasingly prominent. By 2000, the total aged population in the world has reached 590 million. It is predicted that the figure will rise to 1.121 billion by 2050, up by 224% from that of 1975. The world population will grow by 3 folds during the period from 1950 to 2025, and the number of the aged population will increase by 5 folds during the same period. The "Wave of Silver" will soon sweep across the whole world. As a developing country, China unavoidably faces the same problem. In 2000, the 60-year-old or elder population and 65-year-old or elder population respectively accounted for more than 10% and 7% of the total population in China .The existing aged care system cannot keep pace with the trend of intensified aging, and will unavoidably becomes the barrier for social progress and sustainable economic growth unless a strategic and appropriate solution is found. The shrinking size of families and the emergence of more and more nuclear families result in the growth of families consisting of only the old. Therefore, the traditional way in which the old are taken care of by the younger generation in the same family is challenged in many ways. In case where a traditional family of 2 or 3 generations live under the same roof, the family's function of raising the old is weakened. As a result, social care system for the aged is the necessary way out. However, according to statistics, the expenses generated by an old man living in a nursery (home) for the aged is 1.6 times higher than the same man living with his family. Therefore, popularization of social care is unrealistic for the time being in China, considering the economic burden and resource utilization. Meanwhile, the nursery care has irretrievable deficiencies in terms of the quality of life and quality of living of the aged. For example, a large nursery is often isolated from the community where the aged has lived before he is sent to the nursery. Despite of the elaborate care given to the aged in the nursery, they are isolated from the familiar community they used to live and placed in a strange living environment. In fact, the old people living in the nursery are deprived of the opportunity to interact with people of other age period and of the necessary conditions for normal social life, which in turn is harmful to them psychologically and spiritually. In this situation, the need for a new care mode for the aged seems urgent. This paper proposes the concept of community-based home care system. Home care is a social care system for the aged, in which the old people live with their own families while receiving cares from the social establishments. Various social forces are mobilized to establish such a family-centered home care system that is most consistent to the will of the aged, supported by community care service network and guaranteed by social pension system. Home care differs from family care in that family care, by nature, is the care (economic, spiritual and the materialistic care) completely provided by children. Home care is simply a matter of location selection, in which part of the care responsibilities are transferred from the family to the society. Home care is a kind of social care system for the aged. In home care system, most of the responsibilities of caring the aged are turned over to the community, so that the aged could pass the rest of their life in a familiar environment. The position of a family in the new home care system needs to be redefined from a new perspective. Recommendations for the Roundtable Meeting on the Issue of Aging in Asia states clearly that: The Generally Assembly of the United Nations, twice recognizing the fundamental position of the family in the society, appeals to the international community to maintain, strengthen and protect the family, in order to guarantee the continuity of the important roles played by the family in protecting the dignity, position and security of the aged member of the family. The statement is a s...
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