In high-tech Taiwan, the future is visible all around: towering skyscrapers, sleek high-speed trains, superfast internet and 24-hour commerce. There is another aspect of the future that is less obvious and doesn’t appear in sci-fi movies or fiction—an aging population. Government data indicates that Taiwan became an aged society in 2018, with over 14 percent of the population aged 65 or over. The country will become superaged next year as the age group reaches over 20 percent and ultra-aged in 2036 as it swells to 28 percent.
The government has long anticipated this development and has been proactively investing and planning for the consequent economic, public health and social issues that will arrive as those who worked to build Taiwan into the powerhouse it is today age into their golden years. In 2015, the Executive Yuan released the first White Paper on Aged Society, which projected Taiwan’s future demographic structure, anticipated its subsequent impact on society and outlined positive action needed to care for older people. The document was revised in 2021 to emphasize interministry cooperation in developing the health and wellness industry and the role of technology in maintaining senior well-being. Currently, to fulfill the specific tasks of the white paper, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) is working with 14 other central government agencies to promote the Strategic Program for Super-Aged Society 2023-2026.
The first edition of the white paper acted as a catalyst for entrepreneurs to explore the senior market. Then in 2023, a Cabinet-level Strategic Review Board meeting on the age-tech industry was convened with officials from various government agencies to consolidate the economic market approach to senior care. The result was the Age-Tech Industry Action Plan, approved by the Executive Yuan the same year. Leveraging Taiwan’s technological prowess to offer a healthy, comfortable old age is now a joint project, with multiple government agencies involved in spurring business catering to the eldercare market. The Executive Yuan’s National Science and Technology Council initiated and oversees the plan, while three other ministries target four areas: The Ministry of Economic Affairs is responsible for industrial expansion of the eldercare market, the Ministry of Digital Affairs is tasked with digital empowerment for the demographic and the MOHW upgrades and optimizes health and quality-of-life services.
Along with practical direct help for caregivers, like the MOHW live-in home care subsidy of NT$120,000 a year (US$3,700) and over 1,000 senior day care centers throughout the country, government focus on well-being for older adults is highly visible. For example, the nationally owned Bank of Taiwan has developed financial trust products that combine living wills, long-term care financing, pensions and other assets in a simple and clear interface.
Exploring how to look after the population that contributed so much to the country’s current success is exercising the brightest and best brains, through both government and private sector collaboration. This is evidenced by the vibrant market showcased in annual expos such as the Healthy Ageing Tech Show, the Cares Expo and, one of the most well-attended trade shows this year, the Assistive Technology for Life exhibition. Over the space of four days last April, it offered a view of the myriad tech devices available to seniors and their caregivers. From wearable fiber-optic technology offering remote monitoring, which detects heart and temperature fluctuations as early indicators of pneumonia in bedbound individuals and rotating, elevating car seats that can be installed in the family car to a huge variety of small, rechargeable mobility vehicles, a vision emerged of an engaged silver society where technology offers not just health and safety but also fun and interconnectedness.