When the villagers get old!

The majority of people living in Chiayi’s Alishan Township are from the Zou tribe. Each village in the region has a Tribal Culture Health Station where the elderly can get blood pressure taken, play board games, and weave rattan. In the eyes of many elderly villagers, the health station is an indispensable part of their life. However, with many mountainous villages encompassing vast tracts of land, the home of many is still a long distance away from the nearest Tribal Culture Health Station. 

Elderly people still fortunate enough to be fit and healthy can go to the Tribal Culture Health Station but a great number of elderly people have difficulty getting about and rely on home attendants for bathing, using the toilet and other various other services. Unfortunately, for many people, the lack of public transport affects the feasibility to work as a home attendant, and this has resulted in staff shortages.  

As visiting the homes of elderly people in need is not always feasible, the government hopes to establish care centers in towns throughout the country as part of its new Long-term Care Policy V2.0 implementation plan, where incapacitated elderly people can live together. The question of whether this method of care is suitable for all groups of elderly people is certainly worthy of more deliberation and discussions.

When the villagers get old!

URL：https://www.peopo.org/news/332909

(以下是中文對照)

當鄒人老了

嘉義縣阿里山鄉大部分居民是鄒族人，這裡的每個村落都有一個文化健康站，行動方便的老人家可以來量血壓、玩桌遊、編竹籠，這對他們來說是不可或缺的聚會。然而，山區幅員廣大，即使在同一個村，長輩的家跟文化健康站的距離還是離得很遠，如果沒有交通工具，就無法到健康站。

身體還算健康的老人可以到文化健康站，但還有一群已經是行動不便的老人，就需要居家服務員到家裡協助洗澡、上廁所等服務。而居家服務員卻也因為交通問題，造成人力短缺。

到宅服務可能行不通，因此今年長照2.0實施後，政府希望一個原住民鄉鎮就能成立一個日間照護中心，全部的失能老人都能住在一起，不過這樣的照顧方式，是否符合當地老人家的需求？值得深思與討論。