The recent death of a resident of a Taipei municipal senior citizen's home whose body was found in his bathroom three days after he had died not only made newspaper headlines but also rekindled interest in the issue of care for seniors, especially at public facilities.
The Taipei Municipal Hau Jan Senior Citizens' Home (
City councilors demanded the city take disciplinary action against those responsible and devote more people and resources to the home for the elderly.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
The Bureau of Social Affairs (BSA,
Since in the past the city government, claiming a lack of funds, has rejected similar requests by the bureau, it is conceivable that it may either do so again or supply funding for a scaled-back proposal.
Because the city is still mulling over the proposal and Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
When the news broke of the most recent death at Hau Jan on Aug. 3, it not only stunned city officials but also the general public. Most people were extremely curious to know how such a thing could have happened.
A preliminary investigation showed that the deceased, an 85-year-old diabetic named Lee, lapsed into a coma and collapsed in his own bathroom on the night of July 29.
His body was not discovered until three days later on Aug. 1 because, according to Hau Jan, there was insufficient staff on duty over that weekend.
Lee's death is not an isolated case. It is the third in less than a month. In the early morning of July 15, a 78-year-old male resident named Yao hanged himself, reportedly over an affair he was having with a woman outside of the nursing home. One week earlier on July 8, a 79-year-old male resident named Chang also hanged himself following several earlier attempts to commit suicide. He had a long history of chronic illness including heart disease and suffered from hallucinations.
Last year's record was even more dire. There were five deaths at the home -- three homicides and two suicides. On June 2, Chou Hsun-shui (周煦水) committed suicide after stabbing to death Chan A-po (詹阿波), one of the residents, and wounding a security guard and another resident. On April 20, Shih Yu-ping (史玉萍 ) committed suicide after killing his wife. On March 18, Wang Fu-tien (王福田) killed his roommate, Cheng Yuan-cheng (鄭元澄), after drinking heavily.
Tsai Chiu-min (
"All of them are from low-income families. Some of them were abandoned by their families, some have even served jail terms. Some are old soldiers who came to Taiwan alone or left their families behind in China," she said, adding that half of the current 700 residents are men originally from the mainland.
The male-to-female ratio is about three to one, and the average age is 80 years old, she said.
Established in 1968, Hau Jan (formerly Yangming Seniors' Home, renamed in 1986) was the city's second public senior citizens' home. It provides 24-hour care to mentally and physically healthy city residents who are over the age of 60.
The 3,652-ping facility covers two main buildings: the six-story, 400-bed, 2,830-ping (or about 12,100m2) Chihchong Hall (致中所) and the six-floor, 4,170-ping (or about 13,800m2) Chiho Hall (致和所), which has the same capacity.
In addition to Hau Jan, there are two other municipal senior citizens' homes: the city's first public senior citizens' home, Kuang Tzu Senior Citizens' Home (
While Kuang Tzu provides free 24-hour care to senior city residents over the age of 60, abused or abandoned children and women, the Self-paid Residential Home charges seniors between NT$10,000 and NT$18,000 per person per month plus a deposit of between NT$30,000 and NT$40,000.
Countermeasures
In the wake of the deaths, Hau Jan has adopted many countermeasures to deal with the shortage of staff.
Because it is a 24-hour facility, its 138 staff have to take on an extra 15-hour shift at least twice a month, and they get paid only NT$300 per shift, in accordance with the Labor Standards Law (
They are not, however, legally allowed to work extra hours because of the maximum 48-hour workweek stipulated by law.
While awaiting city measures to add more staff and resources, Tsai said, the home must investigate getting help from other sources.
Currently, a coalition of nine community groups consisting of over 200 volunteers has signed one-year contracts with Hau Jan to provide educational, religious, and medical assistance.
People who volunteer to do community work instead of being conscripted into the armed forces will also start working at Hau Jan in December.
In addition, about 30 residents have formed a volunteer committee to provide extra help including the management of the in-house library, sweeping and cleaning of floors and hairdressing, Tsai said.
To prevent a recurrence of past tragedies, Tsai said, they have been keeping a close eye on those suffering from chronic illnesses and emotional problems.
On-the-job training courses such as suicide prevention counseling are also available to staff, Tsai said.
A Positive attitude
Although many tragedies have taken place at Hau Jan, some residents remain positive.
"It's my home. I'm not going anywhere," said 80-year-old Ku Hsing-ti (
Ku, who was widowed at the age of 27 with two daughters then aged three and six, has won first prize in the "cleanest room competition" for the past 12 years.
Pai Ching-chiu (
"I stopped practicing Chinese painting and calligraphy after I had a stroke in 1998, but I still try to look on the bright side of life," he said.
Eighty-year-old Wang Kuo-chang (
"I don't have to worry very much about anything," he said. "I'm a Christian. I'll wait for God to call me to heaven."
Demographics
According to the latest data made available from the Department of Statistics (
Taipei County has the lowest figure, recorded as 6.31 percent, trailing Taichung City's 6.43 percent and Kaohsiung City's 6.92 percent.
Taipei City ranks 13th highest with 9.44 percent. According to the UN, a society is considered to be an aging one if the figure is over 7 percent.
Although Penghu and Kinmen counties have a high percentage of senior citizens, this does not necessarily mean that they have more senior citizens' homes.
"Because the families we have here are very close-knit, most people prefer to take care of their own elderly instead of putting them in a nursing home," said Lu Wan-shih (
Wang Hsien-ku (
"It's all about face," he said. "Although times and society itself have dramatically changed, it's still a very conservative place here -- most people think of it as an embarrassment to send their parents to a nursing home."
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