Taiwan is reforming its national health insurance system to try to meet the medical needs of a growing number of seniors, said Health and Welfare Minister Wen-Ta Chiu. By some estimates, the elderly will rise to 20% of Taiwan’s population in the next decade. That gives urgency to Taiwan’s search for “best practices” for care.
The delegation is participating in a conference on that subject held at the Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging in partnership with Case Western Reserve University, and visiting a range of Cleveland programs that help the elderly.
Chiu said Cleveland was a draw because Case has several researchers working on health care for seniors. He said Taiwan is focused on ways to keep people in their communities, rather than hospitals or nursing homes.
Taiwan implemented programs inspired by U.S. models earlier this year with good results, Chiu said. He said he reported on that progress at the conference, and will take home further lessons for improvement.
CORRECTION: This story has been revised to correct an error about the location of the conference.