00:01In the mountainous outskirts of Taichung, 66-year-old caregiver Yang Xiangying takes a 98-year-old village elder on
00:08a stroll.
00:08With hypertension and diabetes, the elder has no way of taking care of herself.
00:13Instead, she relies on younger members of their Dayan community to help her out.
00:26Yang is part of the Bolahan Symbiotic Care Co-op, which provides home-based, long-term care services in their
00:32Dayan village.
00:38In the local language, Bolahan carries meanings like getting warm by the fire, mutual assistance, and prosperity.
00:49Volunteers here provide basic medical checks, exercise groups, and small classes to give elders a sense of community.
00:55The founder calls this the all-in-one model.
01:08The co-op also works with local businesses like this one, which is teaching seniors to raise chickens,
01:14providing food for the community, and keeping elders socially active.
01:24While these community members are taking elderly care into their own hands, some foresee issues.
01:47For now, Professor Huang says, communities may have no choice but to take care of each other,
01:53but she hopes that more support from the government can help too.
01:56As Taiwan's population rapidly ages, who cares for its seniors is an issue that many communities will have to face.
02:03Andy Xie and Tiffany Wong for Taiwan Plus.
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