Taiwan Turns to Puppetry To Help Dementia Patients in an Aging Society
The health ministry reports that there are now over 350,000 people in Taiwan with dementia. The country is projected to become a super-aged society by 2025, and health officials have been building up a system to care for the growing number of elderly people.
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00:00As Taiwan moves towards becoming a super-aged society, its population of people with dementia is expected to increase.
00:06According to the country's health ministry, Taiwan is already home to around
00:10350,000 people with dementia. They estimate that by 2031, that number will surpass
00:16470,000 people. Then, by 2041, it will pass
00:20680,000. That averages out to two new cases per hour every day between now and then. It's a problem that particularly affects women.
00:30To tackle the issue, the health ministry has created thousands of care centers and
00:44trained over half a million volunteers to help look after the country's growing number of dementia patients.
00:49It also introduced community puppetry programs to help slow cognitive decline.
00:5578-year-old Chou Hsing-Rong joined one such troupe six months ago.
00:58He has mild dementia and puppetry seems to help with his symptoms. It's become something he looks forward to every day.
01:12While puppetry has helped Chou,
01:14he's just one success story in what is proving to be a growing challenge for Taiwan. As
01:19the country creeps towards becoming a super-aged society, one where over 20% of the population is aged 65 or older,
01:25they'll have to continue to get creative about tackling dementia, either by providing better care, better awareness, or better puppets.
01:33Patrick Chen and Wesley Lewis for Taiwan Plus.