As people may have concerned, most Taiwanese who go to hospitals or clinics with the National Health Insurance card, NHI, only have to pay few hundred dollars. Seeing a doctor in Taiwan is convenient, and it won’t cause you a fortune, which means that our healthcare system would be exploited. Elders are like many others, they go to hospitals to have their body checked and take medicines with prescription. Many drugstores sell over- the-counter medicines, after the outbreak of Covid-19, many face masks are on sale with a box of 50 or 30 pieces. Elders can choose to have vaccine jabs first with the option of AZ, Moderna, and BNT. Now our government provides Taiwan made product by Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corporation, MVC, for locals who would like to try.

Foreign labors/Immigrant workers

Except visiting hospitals, some families would hire immigrant workers who are from Vietnam, Thai, or Indonesia to help them release burden or pressure. Some companies that are responsible for introducing foreign workers to locals, need to cooperate with the government and provide the evidence whether the family is safe to stay, or workers are eligible to work here. Those foreign workers usually work and stay with the family who needs almost 24 hours to take care of elders. Most elders are ill, and some of them are not able to walk or eat by themselves.

Though most foreign labors behave well, some may steal money or cause other problems through the relationship with owners or the trust from host family. To be fair, some local families are not well disciplined, so they may harm foreign workers sometimes. Healthcare takes time and patience, and it is mutual cooperation. After all, it is difficult to maintain the work-life balance in the same house.

Elderly centers

Some people are more willing to send their family members to the elderly center, with groups of healthcare assistants to help their daily needs. However, these people may need to live together with others like a big family; they could join activities to enjoy their lives and get to know each other. By doing so, they will not feel alone. If your family members have dementia, you may need to pay more for them to be well cared. Otherwise, you have to visit the center more often, so workers know that you do care about your family.

Most young people are busy for their own work, unable to quit the job and fully concentrate on their family. So the elderly centers can help us do the job.

I think the government should build more healthcare centers for citizens, though people who are in financial disadvantage could apply the room without paying, normal families may not be able to afford it either. Our society always encourages people to work hard, so we can have higher wage, the thing is we are in the era of high inflation for foods and house renting, but only the pay is regular.

Foreign workers are helpful, but they may become immigrant workers one day. They need respect and more secure way of working, so they went on the street to fight for their rights few months ago. As our society becomes aging, this is the problem that we need to handle with sooner or later.