About 30 percent of people aged 65 or older have at least one abnormality among the “six capacities” deemed crucial for maintaining a good quality of life, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said.
Taiwan would become a super-aged society — where more than 20 percent of the population is aged 65 or older — next year, the National Development Council said.
To promote healthy aging, the HPA earlier this week created a Line account named “measure elderly’s six capacities” (長者量六力).
Photo: CNA
The WHO defines healthy aging as “the process of developing and maintaining the functional ability that enables well-being in older age,” and that functional ability is about “having the capabilities that enable all people to be and do what they have reason to value,” which consists of the intrinsic capacity of the individual, the environment and the interactions between them.
The six key domains of intrinsic capacity are: cognitive, locomotor (mobility), vitality (nutrition), visual, hearing and psychological capacities, the HPA said, citing the WHO’s Integrated care for older people guidelines.
Identifying conditions of intrinsic capacity loss provides an opportunity to intervene, slow, stop or reverse the declines, it said.
Data collected from about 227,000 elderly people at healthcare facilities last year showed that about 30 percent have declines in at least one of the “six capacities,” with visual impairment being the most common, the agency said.
The Line account provides interactive games to test elderly people’s intrinsic capacity, health messages in the form of pictures so they could easily share them with friends and short videos with information on the “six capacities,” the HPA said.
They also have a map with integrated information about the nearest healthcare facilities where elderly people can get more detailed capacity assessment or attend exercise activities, it added.
Online live courses by healthcare providers are also available, the HPA said.
As some older people might not be familiar with using smartphones or the messaging app, the service allows up to five people to register using the same smartphone, so caregivers can also help them register, it said.
For elderly people with reading disabilities or visual impairment, the capacity assessment can be played out in Mandarin, Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), Hakka or English, it said.
People can search the Line ID (@hpaicope) in the messaging app to find its service, the HPA said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS