The Ministry of Health and Welfare’s family caregiver care hotline receives more than 6,000 calls each year, and for the first time “seeking emotional support” ranked top among the reasons for calling last year, the ministry said yesterday.
As Taiwan is predicted to become a “super-aged society” with more than 20 percent of the population aged 65 or older next year, more people increasingly need long-term care services.
Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Lue Jen-der (呂建德) said there are two hotlines related to long-term care issues.
Photo courtesy of Ministry of Health and Welfare
The 1966 long-term care service hotline provides information about long-term care services, and as of last year, more than 505,000 people had applied for services and benefits, accounting for coverage of about 80 percent, he said.
As many people in Taiwan feel bound by cultural norms such as filial duty and family responsibility, they believe they should take care of family members “on their own” and that “others would not understand” so they do not share their problems of being family caregivers with others, Lu said.
Therefore, the ministry established a family caregiver care hotline (0800-507-272) in 2015 to provide free consultation services to family caregivers, he said, adding that it has received more than 6,000 calls annually since it was launched.
Chen Wei-ping (陳維萍), chairperson of the Taiwan Association of Family Caregivers, which manages the family caregiver care hotline, said of the calls received last year, about 26 percent were for “seeking emotional support,” followed by 21.7 percent inquiring about service resources.
It is the first time “seeking emotional support” ranked top among the reasons for calling the hotline, she said.
Of those seeking emotional support, Chen said about 42.2 percent expressed “emotional stress” from caregiving, including anxiety, depression, helplessness, tiredness and rage; 21.8 percent expressed “difficulty communicating with the person being cared for;” and 19.2 percent expressed “difficulty communicating with other family members.”
The ministry yesterday released a new video to promote the hotline, showcasing family caregivers sharing their experiences and concerns.
A woman in her 50s surnamed Wang (王), who was in the promotion video, yesterday said she is unmarried and the youngest child in her family, so she has been responsible for taking care of her parents for the past 30 years.
“I almost picked up a coat hanger to hit her [her mother], and had the urge to kick an electric fan,” she said, sharing a memory of how having flu and long-term stress from caregiving had taken a toll on her mental and physical health.
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