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.
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