A: 

The elderly with special difficulties do not specifically refer to certain types of the elderly, but refer to a general term for the elderly who face difficulties and risks that are hard for a family and an individual to cope with, such as poverty, disease, disability, incapacitation and being left unattended. There is no uniform legal policy yet. The extremely needy elderly in a narrow sense refer to the elderly who have the following conditions at the same time: without work capabilities; without financial resource; without legal supporter, fosterer or person with the duty to provide support, or the legal person with the duty to provide support is incapable to fulfill obligations. But the groups referred to in the existing policies are different. For example: According to the Notice of the General Office of Ministry of Civil Affairs of the PRC on Strengthening Care Services for the Elderly with Special Difficulties during the Period of Prevention and Control of the COVID-19 Outbreak (M.B.F. [2020] No. 7), in terms of care services for the elderly affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, the elderly with special difficulties refer to “the special groups such as the extremely poor elderly who live alone, especially those who cannot take care of themselves, the elderly of no family who are in home confinement due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the elderly who are left unattended as their families are isolated for treatment, and the elderly (empty nester) who are temporarily unattended.” According to the Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Implementation of the Elderly-Oriented Home Renovation Project (M.B.F. [2020] No. 86) issued by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and other 8 departments, the elderly with special difficulties refer to “the aged, incapacitated and disabled elderly who are included in the scope of people who live in dire poverty and receive basic assistance and people who live in poverty and are under poverty registration”. According to the 14th Five-Year Plan for Civil Affairs Development (M.F. [2021] No. 51), regarding the establishment of a regular visit system, the elderly with special difficulties refer to “the elderly who are severely disabled, incapacitated, left-behind, empty nester, or in special families under the family planning system”.