Evaluating the level of Age-Friendly of Rural Areas in Taiwan

T.Y. Chao Department of Urban Planning, National Cheng-Kung University, Assistant Professor

W.Y. Hsieh Department of Urban Planning, National Cheng-Kung University, Master Student

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Research motive and purpose

Literature Review

Research method

conclusion

Definition of research

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1. Research motive and purpose

• Ageing trend in whole world

• Studies in Taiwan identified a variety of issues that have been deeply discussed, but few has been evaluated in a comprehensive way.

• Ageing situation is more serious in country area

Research purpose (1)Investigate the differences between urban and rural areas for elders. (2)Investigate the elderly living environment degree in Taiwan rural areas . (3)Build the evaluation criteria

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2. Definition of research

Elders will face different issues from different settlement (eg. urban, rural, fishing village, etc.). According to literature reviews, this study conclude the characteristics of “rural area” as follows: (1) Mainly agricultural use. (2) Plain rural areas (3) Poor links with urban areas

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3. Literature Review

Separate to two parts: 3.1.Reviewing the differences between the elders physical and mental

health, living style and living environment in different areas. 3.2.Reviewing the Age-Friendly Rural and Remote Communities: A Guide,

and refer to the characteristics of elders in Taiwan’s rural area 2012/7/13 5

physical and mental health

living environment

living style

Reflect the individual differences with the different quality of life in the same environment.

reflect the quality of life will change as in different exterior environment

No. of diseases/ physical function/ self-rated health/ cognitive function

family structure/ interpersonal relationships/

financial resources/ job profile/

leisure activities/ the use of technology

housing/ transportation/ infrastructure/

medical facilities

4.Research Method

4.1.Study Area Elderly population: 190 people (in March,2012) Jinsha Village Percentage of elderly population: 20% Senior citizens living alone: about 20 people 2012/7/13 6

Taiwan Tainan City Shigang District

Jinsha Village

4.Research Method

4.1.Study Area • This study choose one

settlement that is further from the care center.

• Interviewees are 2 women and 4 men, and one of them is living alone

• Interview date: 2012/5/4

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4.Research Method

4.2. In-depth interview Take the Canadian 8 domains of “Age-Friendly Rural and Remote Communities: A Guide” as base, adjusting by the state of Taiwan through the literature reviews to acquaint the comparing items about the difference between urban and rural areas for elders in Taiwan, drafting the content of in-depth interview

Literature Review

The differences between the elderly living in urban and rural areas in Taiwan

Canadian“Age-Friendly Rural and Remote

Communities: A Guide”

Draft the content of in-depth interview and proceed interview

According the result of interview to investigate the elderly living environment degree in Taiwan rural areas

To build the evaluation criteria of elderly living environment in rural area

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4.Research Method

4.3.the analysis of basic information

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interviewee 1 2 3 4 5 6 phenomenon

Gender female male Male(live

alone) female male male -

age 67 70 80 79 65 77 -

vision Presbyopia good ok bad good bad

Having bad and good

hearing good good good good good

Bad (has no hearing

aid)

Hearing is general good

ability to act good good good good good Good ability to act is general good

other chronic none none High

blood pressure

none none None

Most of them have small sickness, less have chronic,

housing single-story

house

single-story house

single-story house

single-story house

townhouse

single-story house

Most live in single-story house, others live in two to three-stories house

4.Research Method

4.4. the analysis of interviewing information

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8 domains of ageing friendly

The content of interview The results

Outdoor Spaces and Buildings

• What are your main purpose when you go out?

• What is your main manner to go out?

Mostly elders go out for farming, and by bicycle or motorcycle

Transportation - -

Housing - -

Respect and Social Inclusion

• Whether do you often go out for chatting with neighborhood or exercising in park or play chess…

• Do you think the young respect elders?

Most elders think that the young generation are getting more unconcerned with neighborhoods. According to this , we can conjecture that elders value the interactions with their neighbor thus the situation of social exclusion is rare

Social Participation • How often do you attend activity held by community?

• What will be the reasons that you do not attend these activity?

Most elders will attend the community activities, but the frequency is uncertain. The reason for not attending activities is usually “having no information”, secondly, “having no time due to busy farming”

Communication and Information

- -

Civic Participation and Employment Opportunities

• Are you still working? What is your job? Why you still do so?

Most elders still go out for farming, indicating farming consumed time and they have no time to do other activities. Besides, they earned very slight money to support their live

Community Support and Health Services

- -

4.4. the analysis of interviewing information • In the process of interview, elders do not have much complaint about

the quality of life.

• Most of them think that they have already got used to the environment. The elder only complain about the complicated and tiring process of farming.

• They point out that the government should emphasize on subsidies to improve the quality of life.

4.Research Method

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5. Conclusion

According to the literate review and in-depth interview, this study build a initial step of evaluating criteria, taking as reference regarding to the development of ageing in Taiwan rural areas.

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8 domains of ageing friendly

reason Criteria of evaluating

Outdoor Spaces and Buildings

Elders often go back and forth between home and farm..

The level of ageing friendly in farm road, including the width of road, the rise and fall of road

Transportation Rural area is lack of public transportation, and the farming road is narrow, thus mostly riding motorcycle

The safety, comfortable, and inclusion of motorcycle

Housing - - Respect and Social Inclusion

- -

Social Participation Community activities usually centralized in care center, and local temple, big banyan…

The distance from activity places to house, and the advertisement of activities

Communication and Information

- -

Civic Participation and Employment Opportunities

Most elders still go out for farming, indicating that farming is time-consuming and they have no time for other activities. Besides, they earned very slight money to support their lives

The kinds of work which meet the physical strength of the elderly; degree of assistance for work

Community Support and Health Services

Some settlements are far from the care center, especially dangerous for the elders living alone.

The establishment of injury, illness reporting system for elders living alone

5. Conclusion

This study focuses on the evaluation criteria in Jinsha Village. This criteria follows the 8 domains defined by WHO to check the elderly living environment, so that it can be inspected in a comprehensive way. This criteria can also be applied to rural areas with the same definition, which make the places to adjust its optimal ageing-friendly indicators (according to/with) its characteristics. In the following, the study may emphasize on the classification of different settlements to fit their characteristics of ageing-friendly.

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