Tanzi Health Center Promotes Senior Community Care

According to the annual statistics published by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the elderly accounted for 11.2% of Taiwan’s total population in 2012 and the ratio is expected to reach 14% in 2018, the threshold of an "aged society". It is thus very important to provide our senior citizens with a good environment in which they can live healthily and with dignity and can even take part in community activities. Upholding this vision, the Tanzi Health Center has been promoting “active aging” program within its jurisdiction since 2011 in collaboration with the health promotion associations, the community care centers, and Taichung Tzu Chi Hospital. It is only hoped to prepare our senior citizens for a joyful old age soonest possible.

Director Zeng of Tanzi Health Center said, “It is time we pay special attention to the aging issues. We must help our elderly to live in a healthy, dignified, and happy way. As Alzheimer's disease and dementia syndrome have been on a rising trend in recent years, we at the Tanzi Health Center held a seminar on the prevention of Alzheimer's disease and dementia at the fifth floor conference room of Da Ai Building of Taichung Tzu Chi Hospital on the morning of April 29. In the seminar, we offered interesting exercises to teach our participants how to get away from Alzheimer's disease and dementia. For example, the soft ball rolling exercise requires participants to roll the balls with their hands and feet. It helps stimulate their peripheral nerves so as to slow down the pace of Alzheimer's disease and dementia. In another program named ‘Rainbow Butterfly - We Are Family,’ we teach the elders to paint their fingers and then perform song singing by sign language. This exercise stimulates their brain, hands, and eyes and increases their brain activities. All of these simple actions are very good in mitigating deterioration and degradation of language capability, memory and other functions for the elderly.”

It is also very important for family members taking care of sufferers of Alzheimer's disease and dementia to learn some basic skills and knowledge, too. Caregivers often endure a lot of psychological pressure. Therefore, it is a must that they understand the causes of Alzheimer's disease and dementia and then work out their own simple and routine way on how to take care of their patients and avoid giving the patients excessive stimulation. It is hoped that our beloved elders can be taken care of in a best way and live with dignity.