The Ministry of Health and Welfare on Tuesday announced it would establish a long-term care center for dementia in each of the nation’s 22 counties and municipalities starting in March at the earliest.
With the government’s long-term services care program 2.0 to be put into effect next year, Minister of Health and Welfare Lin Tzou-yien (林奏延) said that two important tasks are to increase financial resources and fill vacancies.
“We estimated a human-resource shortage in long-term care positions of about 5,000 to 10,000 people next year,” Lin said. “So in addition to middle-aged or elderly people returning to the workplace, another important source will be young people.”
Photo: Lin Hui-chin, Taipei Times
He said that every year there are about 5,000 university graduates who have training in long-term care and the ministry plans to hold a job fair next spring, as well as conducting campus recruitment events, to attract talent to enter the long-term care workforce.
Lin said the ministry plans to double the number of long-term care managers, who are in charge of evaluating cases.
Department of Nursing and Healthcare Director-General Tsai Shu-feng (蔡淑鳳) said there are about 353 care managers, each handling 250 to 500 cases per year.
“The target is to see care managers handle about 200 cases per year, so we plan to double their number next year to at least 700,” she said, adding that an increase in salary is also planned.
Tsai said a cap on care managers’ salaries would be increased from NT$37,000 to NT$45,000 per month, with the chance of promotion.
If they are promoted to supervisor, the maximum salary would be NT$51,000, Tsai said.
She said the nation has about 260,000 people with dementia, but because about 70 percent have “very mild” or “mild” conditions, they are often neglected and cannot get the care they need.
Taiwan Alzheimer’s Disease Association secretary-general Tang Li-yu (湯麗玉) said sometimes the need for care services for people with dementia is neglected, because they seem to be able to eat, sleep and move around on their own.
However, sometimes they forget what they are doing or how to do it and need someone to look after them, Tang said.
Lin said the ministry would establish a pilot scheme of care centers in each municipality and county, which would not only provide services for people with disabilities, but also enhance services for people with dementia.
Tsai said that the centers would evaluate the needs of those with dementia.
The measures for the pilot scheme will be announced next month, Tsai said, adding that medical or long-term care facilities can apply to join the program.
She said the ministry hopes to see one center in every township within four years.
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