Social Welfare Needs and Utilizations of Aged Adults in Taiwan

Purpose: Owing to the rapid population aging, increased incidence of chronic diseases, and the changing family structure, the demand for long-term care for older adults continues to escalate sharply. A good policy dedicated to the welfare of older adults improves their quality of life. This study aimed to: 1) explore the current social welfare needs and utilization of aged adults, and 2) compare their differences among age groups, genders, and functional dependency levels.

Methods: Using a stratified random sampling, 384 Taiwanese community-dwelling aged adults were recruited for this survey research. Participants were asked to rate their utilization of and needs for the current 30 social welfare services provided by the government on a Likert-type scale.

Results: The three most widely known social welfare services by aged adults were: senior living allowance (95.83%), free bus and half-price MRT (92.71%), and the senior monetary stipend (90.62%). Young-old, male, and functionally independent older adults had more knowledge of these social welfare services than their counterparts (p < .05). The most widely used and the most needed social welfare services by the aged adults were senior monetary stipend (89.06%) and subsidy for national health insurance premium (75.52%); however, these services were the least satisfied by the older adults.

Conclusion: While designing an integrated and comprehensive social welfare system, differing needs of different age groups, genders, and functional dependency levels should be taken into consideration. The strategies for disseminating the social welfare services information should keep the educational level of the possible recipients in mind, and the service application process should be made simple and easy for the aged adults. Results of this study could be used as a reference for developing a long-term care policy, long-term service law, and insurance law.