INTERVIEW/Taiwan aims to launch new long-term care plan in 2025: Vice premier

Taipei, Nov. 9 (CNA) With Taiwan expected to become a "super-aged society" in 2025, the government plans to introduce the "long-term care program 3.0" in the first half of next year to provide the elderly with more comprehensive care and allow home caregivers to have a breather, according to Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君).

In an interview with CNA, Cheng said on Friday that a cross-ministries long-term care task force under the Executive Yuan is working out the details of the plan, with the new program expected not only to take care of more elderly people, but also integrate local healthcare services with welfare mechanism to build a complete long-term care system in the country.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a super-aged society is one in which 20 percent of its population is aged 65 or older, compared with an aged society in which 14 percent of the population is aged 65 or older and an aging society in which 7 percent of the population is in this category.

Based on the definition, Taiwan became an "aging society" in 1993, and met the definition of an "aged society" since 2018. In 2025, the country would be formally categorized as a "super-aged society."

President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) in his inauguration speech on May 20 spoke about the goal of achieving a "healthier Taiwan." To achieve the goal, the government has measures in place including the long-term care plan 3.0 to strengthen care services for the elderly by increasing the number of venues that provide such care through the integration of the country's healthcare and welfare resources.

Cheng told CNA that since former President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Lai's predecessor, unveiled the long-term care plan 2.0 in 2016, the number of service providers, the budget, and the number of the venues that provide such care have increased significantly.

In the past three years, the percentage of people receiving care out of a total number who need care has been on the rise as the government intensified its efforts to provide services. In 2023, the ratio hit 80.19 percent, up from 69.51 percent in 2022 and 56.60 percent in 2021.

Taiwan has set a goal of serving 87 percent of the needy over the next four years by improving its long-term care services.

Under the long-term care plan 2.0, Cheng said, Taiwan has set up a greater number of venues in many neighborhoods to provide home caregiving, dining and health promotion services.

Looking ahead, Cheng said, the long-term care plan 3.0 will focus on families which need to take care of their members with severe illness as they shoulder a heavier financial burden. Cheng added that the upcoming plan is expected to provide diversified and continued care to the needy.

Cheng said she has seen critically-ill patients discharged from hospitals being rushed back to emergency rooms soon after, as their conditions worsened again and their family members had to face more difficulties taking care of them.

Even though the patients were admitted into caregiving institutions, their fragile health conditions still led them to back to hospital often, which also haunted their families psychologically, Cheng said.

Cheng said it is the responsibility of the government to strengthen the healthcare network so that patients who live with their families or in a caregiving institution will receive good care.

For those who receive home care, Cheng said, the long-term care plan 3.0 will facilitate the pace to set up a complete home care system by connecting the family doctor system, while the new plan also aims to help families have preparatory work in place to take care of their patients after the patients are discharged from hospital.

In addition, Cheng said the long-term care plan 3.0 will provide services and emergency care at night to allow home caregivers to take a breather and reduce their burden.

Cheng said the number of caregivers has grown recently, and the government will continue to integrate these resources and introduce smart technologies to improve the long-term care system.