An elderly resident in the Xinangzhang Garden community in Hefei is happy to receive a keychain embedded with his pre-registration QR code. [Photo/WeChat ID: hefeigaoxinfabu]

Seniors in Hefei's Xinangzhang Garden community recently received a personalized keychain with their printed pre-registration QR code, which is required for mass nucleic acid testing.

The idea for a keychain arose from a brainstorming session with local community workers, who discovered that some elderly are unable to use smart phones to display their QR codes, and that seniors typically carry a keychain.

Community employees used to help seniors generate their QR codes at the testing site, but the method took time and interfered with the testing procedure, according to Zhang Daofeng, the community's Party secretary.

Community workers tried several techniques, such as providing seniors with printed QR codes on pieces of paper, but some seniors forgot to bring their papers, and the paper document is difficult to preserve, according to Zhang.

After some deliberation, community members agreed to make transparent keychains with the nucleic acid test pre-registration QR code, as well as the seniors' names, building numbers, and birth dates, and present them to the seniors one by one. The entire keychain is about two inches in length, and is inexpensive, waterproof, and convenient, and it has been well received by the elderly.

"This idea is too clever! It's convenient and practical, and I won't forget it," said Zhang Shizhu, an elderly resident in Xiangzhang Garden community. Zhang's mobile phone is not a smart phone, and he is not very good at scanning QR codes. He said the small keychain will greatly facilitate his own nucleic acid testing. "I usually take my keys with me when I go out. This keychain is small, so it doesn't get in the way if you put it on the key ring. When you need it, you can take it out and use it at any time."

The keychain method is being piloted and promoted in the community to increase efficiency of mass nucleic acid testing. Community workers and volunteers have distributed the customized keychains to more than 800 seniors.