With the graying of Taiwan's population, there is a "great business opportunity" for the construction of nursing homes for the elderly, the Council for Economic Planning and Development said in a report issued yesterday.
The CEPD's Manpower Planning Department said in the report that nursing homes, which combines homes with professional medical care, will be in great need as the population continues to age.
It added that there are currently 1.99 million elderly people and that the number is increasing by more than 100,000 per year.
The report noted the current practice of hiring foreign caregivers in the family to take care of the elderly and said that the government should encourage the private sector to build nursing homes and ease a ban on land zoning restrictions, which it said would also increase job opportunities.
Hsieh Chia-yi, the author of the report, said the nursing home industry is still in its infancy in Taiwan, citing a few examples of such complexes in Taiwan, including one in Tamshui and one built by the Chang Kung Memorial Hospital.
She also cited a nursing home complex in Chiayi, southern Taiwan, which is the only one that has pooled local government and private sectors.
She said that one is operating more or less on a trial basis, considering the fact that it has only eight units for eight single people and 10 double units.
Hsieh added that the government should encourage the private sector to build more nursing home complexes, as well as providing tax and land acquisition incentives.
CEPD statistics show that the number of elderly will account for one-fifth of the total population by 2036.
Elderly people who are debilitated or disabled and require long-term care totaled more than 339,000 in 2000, a number that is expected to balloon to more than 448,000 by 2010.
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