Community healthcare centers in Shanghai have expanded their services to include night clinics, helping to reduce daytime crowds and providing flexible care options for working residents.

What healthcare options are available at these night clinics? Let's take a closer look.

Rehabilitation

Rehabilitation is emerging as a major reason why residents visit night outpatient clinics.

While many elderly people require rehabilitation treatment to manage chronic illnesses, young generations, worn down by desk jobs and a lack of exercise, are increasingly seeking rehabilitation services as well.

Jiangwan Hospital in Hongkou district offers night rehabilitation services from 5:30 pm to 8 pm on weekdays.

Young people leading increasingly sedentary lifestyles face a range of health problems, and timely treatment can improve their quality of life, said He Zhijie, executive deputy director of the hospital's department of rehabilitation medicine.

The hospital features a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, providing patients with hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which involves patients breathing pure oxygen in a pressurized environment to promote tissue repair.

Weight management

Weight management is another common reason that propels people to visit the night services of healthcare centers.

At the North Huanzhen Road Healthcare Service Station in Baoshan district, the night outpatient clinic usually sees up to about 60 people on regular days and over 100 during peak times.

Since May, the community healthcare center has added weight management services to its night outpatient clinic, aiming to meet the diverse health needs of residents by implementing the "887365" principle, which refers to services from 8 am to 8 pm on weekdays, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Wang Yajie, a chief physician in the TCM department of the healthcare center, said, "Young people want better figures, while middle-aged and elderly people tackle obesity-related issues like heavy loads on knee joints, fatty liver, or high cholesterol."

Wang said that the night outpatient clinic offers traditional Chinese medicine treatments such as auricular point sticking and acupoint catgut embedding. These therapies promote metabolism, burn fat, and suppress appetite by continuously stimulating acupoints.

Neigong tuina

In Songjiang district, the Sijing Town Community Healthcare Center has also launched night outpatient services for weight management.

What sets it apart is that the weight management here weaves "neigong tuina", a Shanghai intangible cultural heritage, into its modern weight loss programs.

Neigong tuina is a traditional Chinese therapeutic massage that combines manual techniques with internal energy (qi) regulation to promote healing and balance in the body.

Shanghai currently has 143 community rehabilitation centers, with the majority of the city's community healthcare centers providing night outpatient clinics.

Source: Jiefang Daily