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Taipei Simplifies Procedure for Elderly Services Applications
Chinapost
China
April 8, 2008
Taipei City has established a new center to streamline applications for long-term care for elderly people living in the capital, the city government announced yesterday, as the proportion of seniors in Taipei is expected to grow.
The Taipei City Long-Term Care Management Center (LTCMC) has been established with an aim of simplifying the process for the elderly to apply for medical and social care services, officials said.
In the past, elderly people in need of services had to file one application to the Department of Health for medical assessment and another to the Department of Social Welfare for social services, a welfare department official said at press conference.
"The integration of the resources of the two departments is like a wedding," joked Allen W. Chiu, the DOH's director, saying that with the establishment of the center, senior citizens needing long-term care have only one application to file.
"Through the collaboration of the two departments, a more efficient service will benefit elderly citizens in Taipei," Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin told the news conference.
The center also provides services such as assessment of individual conditions and needs, home care, home rehabilitation treatment, and low cost respite care.
Residents in Taipei aged over 65 -- 55 for indigenous people and 50 for disabled people -- who are deemed unable to take care of themselves, can file applications for aid at the center, according to a statement issued by the center. Other people of all ages who are unable to take care of themselves can also apply for aid, but will receive less governmental subsidies, the center said.
In 2007, about 2.3 million people in Taiwan were aged over 65, representing 10.2 percent of the total population, according to the Ministry of the Interior (MOI).
A survey by the Taipei city government showed that in Taipei, 315,618 people, accounting for 12 percent of the city's population, are aged over 65, and the growth rate is expected to increase.
About 30,000 of Taipei's elderly people currently need long-term care services, the center noted.
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