[Legislative policy and management in relation to long term care in Taiwan]

Because of the ageing of Taiwan society, long-term care needs increase on a daily basis. But no shift system has been introduced for long-term care, with the result that when there is an inappropriate balance of deployment of resources, acute hospital resources are being given over to long-term care patients, and a heavy burden is being placed upon long-term care patients and their families. In addition, there are developmental differences within the current system, in which many different management methods are adopted. For this reason, this article describes the difficulties that long-term care faces in Taiwan, and makes suggestions in that regard. In an ageing society, integration of policy, legislation and services, the provision of welfare to the elderly, are responsibilities of the whole of society--the elderly themselves, their families, civil society, and government. We sincerely hope that legislation on long-term care can now be passed quickly, so that a truly flawless long-term care system can be introduced.