Shift of focus

In light of major advances in the skill levels of rural doctors in recent decades. Operation Concern has switched its focus to a more arduous task - post-surgical rehabilitation.

Last year, the charity began working with the Fuping County Federation for the Disabled, the Second People's Hospital and Qinhuai, a local NGO, to establish a rehab center in Beiling, the county's most populous village.

The center provides services for people living outside the county's urban areas, helping to restore their physical functions to a level that will allow them to live relatively normal lives.

Yao Weixing, deputy Party secretary of Beiling, said the center was a totally new concept for most of the residents, and they were initially unenthusiastic about its presence.

"Farmers like us believe we get enough physical exercise through farm work, but in fact that work may not provide the right sort of exercise, so it's different from using the rehab facilities," he said.

To help villagers understand the benefits provided by the center, social workers from Qinhuai visited those who required rehab and invited them to sample the services on offer. The residents quickly began to appreciate the program, according to Qin Hailong, the director of Qinhuai.

Shi Yinhu has certainly benefitted. In 2013, he was partially paralyzed by a stroke that left him unable to speak. He now visits the center twice a week for exercise and rehab guidance.

"With the help of the rehab exercise program and professional guidance, I gradually began to take care of myself, which has relieved the pressure on my wife," said the 57-year-old from Gunshi, a village near Beiling.

"About 30 villagers come to the center every day, and during the peak hours the building seems quite crowded."

Overcoming difficulties

According to Leung, rehab programs are not like surgery, where the results can be seen instantly. However, while the lack of instant recognition makes it difficult to establish facilities in rural areas, the services are essential.

"Surgery to repair a fracture would not be successful if we healed the bone, but failed to restore the functions of the muscles and joints," he said.

He Jiamei, a 29-year-old physical therapist at the Second People's Hospital, said many rural seniors are willing to follow rehab guidance at the center, but it can be difficult for those who live alone to attend because the residents are scattered across a wide area.

"During home visits, we meet many elderly people who display the warning signs of a stroke. In such cases, we strongly urge them to make use of the services provided by the center as a precautionary measure, but many say they cannot make it to the center regularly because they have no one to help them get there," she said.

Qin, from Qinhuai, has often heard similar sentiments expressed. In response, the NGO is trying to engage senior residents' children - many of whom have moved away to large cities in search of work - in the rehab process by establishing chat groups on WeChat and QQ, two of the most popular social messaging platforms in China.

"This year, we started collecting contact information about the family members of elderly residents. Of course, that won't solve all the problems for good, but it will allow us to contact them to discuss ways of helping in the event of an emergency," he said.