As Taiwan’s population ages, the need for health and fitness facilities for the elderly only grows greater. The Health Promotion Administration hopes to attract more public health centers to join its “super-aged friendly health care” scheme. Through joining the certificate program, the centers redesign their facilities to be more accessible to the elders in their community.

Mrs. Wang comes to the public health center every day to get her blood pressure checked. She has a nice chat with the nurse who asks how her health is generally. For senior citizens in Kaohsiung’s Dashe District, the center is a home from home.

Wang Lin Yu-chuan
Senior citizen
I’ve been coming here to get my blood pressure tested for ages, decades. I have a family history of high blood pressure. The people here are so nice.

Taiwan will officially become a “super-aged society” in 2025. In recent years the Health Promotion Administration has expanded and upgraded health center services for senior citizens.

Buildings have become disability-friendly, with new exercise rooms and equipment, enabling the elderly to keep fit together. Smart care facilities help keep records, and send data about physical condition and test results to doctors online.

Hsieh Lu-ling
Xinzhuang District Public Health Center
It seems like our smart health center is quite effective, looking at our app connected to the big data. For senior citizens in their golden years, it’s actually quite easy to learn how to use electronics.

Chia Shu-li
HPA acting director-general
We cannot underestimate the fact that the super-aged demographic is more than 20% of the membership at 33% of our health centers, that’s 123 centers. So we have to change our services, from our traditional conception of a health center, to a center that is truly centered on senior citizens. We welcome the elderly to come and take up any of our resources that suit their health requirements.

There are 358 public health centers nationwide. The “super-aged friendly health care” certificate aims to make sure the needs of the elderly stay a priority, and the HPA hopes the scheme will continue to expand.