SDG3
NCKU and Pingtung County Government Collaborate to Promote Borderless and Inclusive Care
National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) and the Pingtung County Government have jointly published The Practice Notes of Borderless and Inclusive Day Care (無圍籬共融日照實作筆記), officially launched at a recent press event. The book documents in detail the process and outcomes of implementing the “Borderless and Inclusive Care Model”(無圍籬共融照護模式) in Pingtung County, showcasing how a university team, local government, and day care centers collaborated to put long-term care innovation into practice. This project exemplifies the partnership model of “turning research into action.”Published by the Pingtung County Government, 500 printed copies will be distributed along with a digital edition. The book will serve as a training manual for the county’s 76 day care centers, helping frontline care attendants, nurses, and therapists grasp the core spirit and practical methods of borderless care.
The new book launch was held on the morning of October 15 at the Good Pingtung Life Long-Term Care Center (好屏生活長照館), with representatives from NCKU and the Pingtung County Government in attendance. Emphasizing NCKU’s commitment to “people-centered local engagement,” the collaboration dates back to 2018, when the “Co-Creating Dementia-Friendly Communities” project began in Xishi Village (西勢村), Jhutian Township (竹田鄉), and gradually expanded to other townships and day care centers. Executive Vice President Yuh-Neu Chen (陳玉女) remarked, “A university is not only a place for research and teaching — it should also grow together with the local community and work hand in hand to solve real problems. From the open-style care in Jhutian to today’s borderless and inclusive model, every step along the way has been a journey of shared learning and progress between NCKU and the local community.”
Pingtung County Magistrate Chun-Mi Chou (周春米) noted that the practice notes are not merely a practical manual but also a comprehensive record of a collaborative journey. She expressed her hope that this book would serve as a guiding light — encouraging more seniors to step out of their homes and re-engage with their communities, while also supporting families, volunteers, and care teams along the way.
Professor Cheng-Ta Yang (楊政達), Director of NCKU’s Center for Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS), explained that NCKU’s long-term partnership in Pingtung represents “academic research responding to local needs” in concrete form.“We don’t just bring our research results to local areas — we start from local issues themselves, exploring and creating solutions together with the county government and frontline workers. Many of the stories in this book are living testimonies of this co-learning and co-working process,” he said. The CHSS played a key role as an interdisciplinary coordinator and knowledge translator, integrating expertise from the social sciences, healthcare, and design fields. This enabled ideas to be transformed into workable models, creating reciprocal benefits among policy, academia, and practice.
Director Cheng-Ta Yang emphasized that the spirit of “borderless care” is not limited to the field of long-term care; it represents a reconstruction of social relationships — opening up the boundaries of institutions and spaces, as well as fostering greater understanding and trust among people. Such cross-sector collaboration marks an important milestone in NCKU’s efforts to promote local humanistic governance and realize a people-centered approach to development.
The Practice Notes of Borderless and Inclusive Day Care is one of the key achievements of the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) program, University – Local Government Cooperation for Local Humanities Development and Cross-Disciplinary Governance (known as the “Great Local Project”). The program is coordinated by NCKU’s Center for Humanities and Social Sciences, which is dedicated to connecting humanities and social research with local governance practices, demonstrating the integrative power of University Social Responsibility (USR).
Opening the Boundaries of Care — Enabling the Elderly to Live Freely in Their Communities
The concept of “borderless and inclusive care” stems from the desire to break through the traditional framework of day-care institutions for the elderly, allowing seniors to move beyond confined architectural spaces and live, interact, and engage freely within their communities. This model of care represents not only an opening of physical environments but also a transformation in caregiving culture and mindset — shifting from a notion of “being cared for” to one of “participation and contribution,” enabling older adults to continue extending the value and meaning of their lives.
Through the collaboration between NCKU and the Pingtung County Government’s Department of Long-Term Care, five day-care centers have each developed their own unique version of borderless inclusivity:
At Beixing Day Care, elderly participants revisit familiar local markets and interact warmly with vendors; at Yanbei Day Care, seniors and preschoolers from Pengcuo Kindergarten take part in “intergenerational food and farming learning,” working, cooking, and learning together in the fields. These small yet heartfelt actions not only reshape the landscape of long-term care facilities but also allow communities to once again see the strength and wisdom of their elders.
During the project’s implementation, the NCKU team integrated the expertise of cross-disciplinary faculty and students, community volunteers, and caregivers under an action research framework. Through field observations, collaborative discussions, and reflective learning, they helped each center continually improve its internal organization and external connections. The county government and the team held monthly meetings to share insights, adjust strategies, and provide mentoring-style support to help each center overcome resource and space limitations. This ongoing “collaboration–reflection–action” cycle has allowed the borderless care model to take root and flourish.
Documenting Local Care Stories — Injecting New Vitality into Taiwan’s Long-Term Care
This book, The Practice Notes of Borderless and Inclusive Day Care, was written by Associate Professor Ling-Hui Chang’s team under Subproject 5 of Phase III of NCKU’s Great Local Project: “Constructing Knowledge Systems, Operational Models, and Pilots for Borderless Inclusive Care in Dementia-Friendly Communities.” The content centers on the transformation stories of five day-care centers — Xishi, Beixing, Yanbei, Dalian, and Xinpi — compiling years of mentoring experience and first-hand field observations. Guided by the four core principles of autonomy, independence, inclusion, and sustainability, the book systematically outlines seven key dimensions of implementation along with corresponding strategies and includes practical checklists, aiming to serve as a hands-on guide for day-care centers across Taiwan seeking to promote borderless care.
Written in accessible language, the book combines real-life stories, conceptual illustrations, and checklists to balance readability with practical usability. Its seven chapters correspond to the seven dimensions of borderless care, covering topics such as activity design, spatial layout, community co-learning, and family participation. Each chapter presents concrete strategies and authentic cases, accompanied by “reading stories” that encourage readers to reflect on their own caregiving contexts.
Inclusion as a Shared Landscape — The University Rooted in the Local Community.
The publication of this book represents the culmination of years of collaboration between NCKU and the Pingtung County Government, and it embodies the concrete practice of University Social Responsibility (USR). As the project team expressed, “Borderless care is not merely about removing walls — it is also a process of opening our hearts.” Looking ahead, NCKU will continue to collaborate with local governments through its Center for Humanities and Social Sciences, promoting more people-centered and community-based innovations that bring academic research into everyday life.
The publication of The Practice Notes of Borderless and Inclusive Day Care not only records a chapter of long-term care innovation in Pingtung but also marks the beginning of a new era of inclusive care in Taiwan’s aging society. From the Jhutian Dementia-Friendly Park to the nine borderless day-care centers across the county, the collaborative practice between NCKU and the Pingtung County Government is gradually making “dementia-friendly and community-inclusive living” a natural and everyday landscape in Taiwan.
Full Reading of “The Practice Notes of Borderless and Inclusive Day Care”
The new book launch was held on the morning of October 15 at the Good Pingtung Life Long-Term Care Center (好屏生活長照館), with representatives from NCKU and the Pingtung County Government in attendance. Emphasizing NCKU’s commitment to “people-centered local engagement,” the collaboration dates back to 2018, when the “Co-Creating Dementia-Friendly Communities” project began in Xishi Village (西勢村), Jhutian Township (竹田鄉), and gradually expanded to other townships and day care centers. Executive Vice President Yuh-Neu Chen (陳玉女) remarked, “A university is not only a place for research and teaching — it should also grow together with the local community and work hand in hand to solve real problems. From the open-style care in Jhutian to today’s borderless and inclusive model, every step along the way has been a journey of shared learning and progress between NCKU and the local community.”
Pingtung County Magistrate Chun-Mi Chou (周春米) noted that the practice notes are not merely a practical manual but also a comprehensive record of a collaborative journey. She expressed her hope that this book would serve as a guiding light — encouraging more seniors to step out of their homes and re-engage with their communities, while also supporting families, volunteers, and care teams along the way.
Professor Cheng-Ta Yang (楊政達), Director of NCKU’s Center for Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS), explained that NCKU’s long-term partnership in Pingtung represents “academic research responding to local needs” in concrete form.“We don’t just bring our research results to local areas — we start from local issues themselves, exploring and creating solutions together with the county government and frontline workers. Many of the stories in this book are living testimonies of this co-learning and co-working process,” he said. The CHSS played a key role as an interdisciplinary coordinator and knowledge translator, integrating expertise from the social sciences, healthcare, and design fields. This enabled ideas to be transformed into workable models, creating reciprocal benefits among policy, academia, and practice.
Director Cheng-Ta Yang emphasized that the spirit of “borderless care” is not limited to the field of long-term care; it represents a reconstruction of social relationships — opening up the boundaries of institutions and spaces, as well as fostering greater understanding and trust among people. Such cross-sector collaboration marks an important milestone in NCKU’s efforts to promote local humanistic governance and realize a people-centered approach to development.
The Practice Notes of Borderless and Inclusive Day Care is one of the key achievements of the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) program, University – Local Government Cooperation for Local Humanities Development and Cross-Disciplinary Governance (known as the “Great Local Project”). The program is coordinated by NCKU’s Center for Humanities and Social Sciences, which is dedicated to connecting humanities and social research with local governance practices, demonstrating the integrative power of University Social Responsibility (USR).
Opening the Boundaries of Care — Enabling the Elderly to Live Freely in Their Communities
The concept of “borderless and inclusive care” stems from the desire to break through the traditional framework of day-care institutions for the elderly, allowing seniors to move beyond confined architectural spaces and live, interact, and engage freely within their communities. This model of care represents not only an opening of physical environments but also a transformation in caregiving culture and mindset — shifting from a notion of “being cared for” to one of “participation and contribution,” enabling older adults to continue extending the value and meaning of their lives.
Through the collaboration between NCKU and the Pingtung County Government’s Department of Long-Term Care, five day-care centers have each developed their own unique version of borderless inclusivity:
At Beixing Day Care, elderly participants revisit familiar local markets and interact warmly with vendors; at Yanbei Day Care, seniors and preschoolers from Pengcuo Kindergarten take part in “intergenerational food and farming learning,” working, cooking, and learning together in the fields. These small yet heartfelt actions not only reshape the landscape of long-term care facilities but also allow communities to once again see the strength and wisdom of their elders.
During the project’s implementation, the NCKU team integrated the expertise of cross-disciplinary faculty and students, community volunteers, and caregivers under an action research framework. Through field observations, collaborative discussions, and reflective learning, they helped each center continually improve its internal organization and external connections. The county government and the team held monthly meetings to share insights, adjust strategies, and provide mentoring-style support to help each center overcome resource and space limitations. This ongoing “collaboration–reflection–action” cycle has allowed the borderless care model to take root and flourish.
Documenting Local Care Stories — Injecting New Vitality into Taiwan’s Long-Term Care
This book, The Practice Notes of Borderless and Inclusive Day Care, was written by Associate Professor Ling-Hui Chang’s team under Subproject 5 of Phase III of NCKU’s Great Local Project: “Constructing Knowledge Systems, Operational Models, and Pilots for Borderless Inclusive Care in Dementia-Friendly Communities.” The content centers on the transformation stories of five day-care centers — Xishi, Beixing, Yanbei, Dalian, and Xinpi — compiling years of mentoring experience and first-hand field observations. Guided by the four core principles of autonomy, independence, inclusion, and sustainability, the book systematically outlines seven key dimensions of implementation along with corresponding strategies and includes practical checklists, aiming to serve as a hands-on guide for day-care centers across Taiwan seeking to promote borderless care.
Written in accessible language, the book combines real-life stories, conceptual illustrations, and checklists to balance readability with practical usability. Its seven chapters correspond to the seven dimensions of borderless care, covering topics such as activity design, spatial layout, community co-learning, and family participation. Each chapter presents concrete strategies and authentic cases, accompanied by “reading stories” that encourage readers to reflect on their own caregiving contexts.
Inclusion as a Shared Landscape — The University Rooted in the Local Community.
The publication of this book represents the culmination of years of collaboration between NCKU and the Pingtung County Government, and it embodies the concrete practice of University Social Responsibility (USR). As the project team expressed, “Borderless care is not merely about removing walls — it is also a process of opening our hearts.” Looking ahead, NCKU will continue to collaborate with local governments through its Center for Humanities and Social Sciences, promoting more people-centered and community-based innovations that bring academic research into everyday life.
The publication of The Practice Notes of Borderless and Inclusive Day Care not only records a chapter of long-term care innovation in Pingtung but also marks the beginning of a new era of inclusive care in Taiwan’s aging society. From the Jhutian Dementia-Friendly Park to the nine borderless day-care centers across the county, the collaborative practice between NCKU and the Pingtung County Government is gradually making “dementia-friendly and community-inclusive living” a natural and everyday landscape in Taiwan.
Full Reading of “The Practice Notes of Borderless and Inclusive Day Care”
Press Conference for the Launch of “The Practice Notes of Borderless and Inclusive Day Care”
The elderly joyfully participated in the book launch event.
The NCKU team, together with the Pingtung County Government, accompanied seniors from the day-care centers to visit local markets, engaging with and experiencing the elders’ cherished life memories.
The day-care center encourages seniors to serve as a “One-Day Temple Keeper” (一日廟公) at a nearby Temple of the Earth God (土地公廟).
