NCKU and Pingtung County Government collaborate to develop a safe and elderly-friendly community model.-國立成功大學永續發展SDGs

Over the past three years, the Pingtung County Government has collaborated with the team from the Center for Humanities and Social Sciences (CHASS) at NCKU to transform Xishi Village in Chutian Township into the first elderly-friendly community in Taiwan, achieving remarkable results. On January 12th, in the midst of the new county government team's tenure, which began half a month ago, Vice President Yuh-Neu Chen led the "The Co-creating elderly-friendly Community NCKU Pingtung County Good Neighborship" project team to pay a visit, where both parties agreed to deepen the practice of Lohas social consensus and embark on a new journey of shared learning, collaboration, and improvement between the university and the local government.

To achieve continued exploration and expansion of elderly-friendly communities in Pingtung, the Pingtung County Government and  CHASS from NCKU proposed the "University and Local Government Collaboration for Promoting Local Humanities Development and Interdisciplinary Governance Project" in 2021. With the support of the National Science and Technology Commission, various parties have come together to invest efforts. Over the next three years, the plan aims to establish at least two trial elderly-friendly communities for the elderly, draft the initial version of a policy white paper, ensure that 7% of the county's population receives dementia supporter education by 2025, and cultivate 100 dementia supporter education seed students.

Vice President Chen of NCKU stated, "The Co-creating elderly-friendly Community NCKU Pingtung County Good Neighborship" project involves a multidisciplinary team from NCKU, coupled with partners from various departments within the county government. I believe that together, we can overturn the stigma of dementia, strengthen elderly awareness and practice, and make Pingtung a model for living and aging securely."

Deputy County Magistrate Kuo-Jung Huang of Pingtung County responded, "We are delighted to see the future development of cooperation between NCKU and the county government. The county government will soon promote restructuring and prepare for the establishment of a long-term care office to advance key goals for elderly-friendly communities for dementia. We also look forward to extending the experience of the elderly-friendly community in Chutian to the entire Pingtung County, which is a top priority in County Magistrate Chun-Mi Zhou's policy white paper." In addition to Deputy County Magistrate Huang, Director Mei-Shu Liu of the Department of Social Affairs, Director Hsiu-Chun Chang of the Health Bureau, Deputy Director Yu- Zhen Chen of the Hakka Affairs Department, Director Li-Fang Tian of the Care Center, and other relevant county government officials attended the meeting. They expressed their expectations for future cooperation between the two parties, and the atmosphere was enthusiastic, demonstrating the county government's determination and momentum in promoting elderly-friendly care for the elderly across departments.