The Ministry of Health and Welfare is to allocate NT$4 billion (US$123 million) to expand a program on providing integrated medical and long-term care to senior citizens, as the nation prepares for the challenges of becoming a super-aged society next year.
The WHO defines a super-aged society as one in which more than 20 percent of the population is composed of people aged 65 or older.
The ministry operates 26 hospitals that provides integrated long-term care to elderly Taiwanese and plans to inject NT$4 billion to expand the program, said Lin Ching-feng (林慶豐), head of the Hospital and Social Welfare Organizations Administration Commission.
Photo: Taipei Times
The ministry-run Keelung Hospital’s long-term care residential facility is the first to be established under the program, followed by others in Taitung and Hualien, he said.
The government expects to set up 14 more facilities of the kind before 2029 to provide affordable long-term care to 2,000 more senior citizens, Lin said.
An annual report published by the ministry showed that more than 10 percent of seniors needed assistance with one or more daily living activities, with bathing topping the list.
The report, Elderly Living Report for 2022, defined daily living activities as washing, dressing, going to the toilet, getting in and out of bed or chairs, indoor movements and eating.
While only 1.71 percent of Taiwanese older than 55 needed assistance with one or more such activities, the figure rose to 11.86 percent for Taiwanese over 65 years of age and 24.4 percent of Taiwanese over 75 years of age, it said.
It showed that 11.35 percent of elderly people needed assistance to wash or shower, followed by 9.41 percent for changing clothes.
Family members remained the main source of support for elderly people, with more than 60 percent being taken care of by family, while 18 percent had help from professional carers and 6.72 percent relied on home or community-based services, the report said.
Assisted living institutions take care of 84,000 Taiwanese 65 years of age or older and 14,000 who are aged 55 to 64, it said.
These include 48.45 percent living in designated long-term care facilities, 38.35 percent in nursing homes and 6.39 percent in Veteran Affairs Council-run homes, it said.
Another 3.74 percent of elderly Taiwanese live in facilities for people with disabilities run by welfare services and 3.07 percent live in designated dementia care facilities, it said.
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