The Hearts Café in Hsinbei City, Allowing the Caretakers to Take Time for Themselves

A place, for the caregivers to go, to breathe, to take time away, from the hardships of taking care of their demented elderly parents and loved ones, there should be more places like these everywhere these days, from the Newspapers, translated…

The Hsinbei Social Services Department will be setting up 14 “Caretakers’ Café” in the city of Hsinbei, to provide a comfortable, relaxing place for the caretakers to go, so they can, recharge. The head of the Social Services Department, Chang said, in the future, whether it be the public elderly daycare or the private care facilities, so long as there are locations willing to set up these cafés, there would be resources, and volunteers, assigned to the locations.

Chang said, that the population of the elderly exceeded 510,000, and, based off of the rate of dementia, there would be about 30,000 to 40,000 demented elderly, the family care providers are faced with not knowing how to provide the care effectively, getting stressed out; the Social Services Department last year asked the Hsinbei Homecare Foundation to tour thirty of the local community’s care stations, to provide the caretakers with the de-stress programs, the cares, and even, offering tips on caregiving.

“The Taishan’s Miracle Home Café” is a station that’s, set up, and on a trial basis operation, the lecturer of the café, Wu said, that this place offers advice to the families on how to cope with the elderly’s wandering off, getting agitated as the sunset, and, it’s, a place where the caregivers can meet up and find support in one another.

Chang said, there are currently 34 public elderly daycare centers, and that fourteen caretakers’ cafés would be set up, and it’s estimated, that all fourteen cafés would be set up by next year’ and, if the space met the requirements, then, the city government would offer funding, to make the locations into the cafés.

Chang pointed out, that in the past, only the elderly who are ailing in health would get sent to the public daycare centers, and now, as the cafés were set up, the locations are open to the public, and, as the caretakers go to seek out counsel, they can bring their elderly there too, it is hoped, that the cafés will become, a long-term information center.

And so, this, is a good place, for the caretakers, to gain mutual support, like in group therapy, where everybody opens up about their experiences in caretaking, and, from exchanging the thoughts, the problems each family faced in long-term care, in caregiving, will hopefully, find the answers.