The 2026 Pudong New Area Elderly Care Service Practitioners Skills Competition came to a close on September 29.

At the award ceremony, a group of outstanding elderly care service practitioners and vocational college students majoring in related fields were commended.

This year marks the opening year of the "15th Five-Year Plan," and the elderly care service sector is entering a new stage.

As older adults place ever higher demands on the quality and professionalism of elderly care services, building a professional and skilled elderly care talent team has become an important foundation for promoting high-quality development.

Pudong New Area attaches great importance to building its elderly care talent team, creating platforms for practitioners to learn and improve and to develop their skills through training, skills competitions, and talent cultivation programs, while continuously refining the mechanisms for talent development and skills improvement.

The competition was themed "Craftsmanship Guards, Empowering the Future" and featured three categories: the "Elderly Care Worker Project," the "Elderly Care Worker (Cognitive Impairment) Special Project," and the "Vocational College Elderly Care Nursing Specialty Special Project." It attracted registrations from elderly care service practitioners at more than 90 institutions across the district as well as students from 6 vocational colleges.

From training to competition and from theory to hands-on practice, contestants grew and improved through learning and competing, demonstrating solid professional competence and a positive mental outlook.

At the award ceremony, outstanding contestants who won first, second, and third prizes received certificates of honor.

Geng Zirui of Shanghai Urban Construction Vocational College won first prize in the "Vocational College Elderly Care Nursing Specialty Special Project." After completing three years of study in the Smart Health and Elderly Care Service and Management major, he is now interning at an elderly care service institution. He said his biggest gain was "the exchanges and interactions among contestants, which gave me more experience in practical aspects."

Han Yukun of Puhua Nursing Home in Kangqiao Town, Pudong New Area, won first prize in the "Elderly Care Worker Project." He graduated with a degree in music performance and holds a postgraduate qualification, and has been part of the elderly care service team for only one year. "I chose this profession partly because I felt during previous charity performances at nursing homes that I enjoy communicating with older people, and also because I am full of expectations for the future of this industry," he said. "The World Skills Competition just ended, and the Shanghai contestant representing China won gold in the 'Health and Social Care' category, which also makes me more confident in my choice."

A relevant official from the district civil affairs bureau said that the commended contestants are not only outstanding representatives of this competition, but also a microcosm of the many elderly care service practitioners who stay grounded in their posts, study skills, and improve service, reflecting the strong momentum of continuous growth and progress in Pudong's elderly care service talent team. It is hoped that the competition will encourage more practitioners to value skills and study skills, making "learning skills, practicing skills, and competing in skills" the norm in the elderly care service industry.