First-ever manor-styled senior care center opens in New Taipei
First manor-styled senior care center opens in Wugu
The Shizitou Senior Care Center began operation today (3/12) in the Wugu district. The center is the 18th public senior care center in New Taipei City, and it is also the first to be designed in an European-manor style. During the opening ceremony, city mayor Chu Liluan said that the challenge of senior care is becoming more and more evident in the 21st century. New Taipei City is promoting the Senior Care Checkbook. By training senior and younger volunteers to serve, the program aims to reduce the stress of families caring for seniors and realize the goal of creating an local community amenable to aging.
Mayor Chu said that Wugu Shizitou is New Taipei’s 18th senior care center, and the city government will open three more centers by the end of the year, bringing the total of care centers to 21. He emphasized that everyone grows old, and properly using public spaces to care for the seniors can reduce the stress placed on families and allow the younger members to become the breadwinners. The mayor visited the individual rooms and living spaces in the Shizitou Care Center and chatted with the seniors. The center’s living spaces include “Fun Room,” “River Hall,” “Five Grains House,” and more.
The Social Welfare Department reports that Shizitou Public Senior Care Center’s building design combines local theme and environmental planning to offer a sense artistic character with a unique European-manor style. The center has rooms and spaces for reading, rehabilitation, karaoke, board game, tea, and also an open kitchen and a media center. The daytime care serves up to 40 seniors and enables closer ties between disabled seniors and the younger generation, allowing them to learn from and care for each other.
The Social Welfare Department points out that at the end of February, the total number of people in New Taipei City is 3,967,419, and the number of seniors is 405,586, surpassing the number of children under 12 (405,374) for the first time. The percentage of seniors in New Taipei is 10.22; this is a sign of the coming of the aging society. In the near future, New Taipei City will be promoting inter-city resource coordination to realize the ideal of localized aging and healthy and joyful lives.
For more information: Social Welfare Department, Huang Fengming, Tel: 1999 or (02)2960-3456 ext. 3722