With the challenges of hospitalized patients transitioning to in-home care in mind, the Department of Public Health, Taoyuan Government states that 16 hospitals in Taoyuan provide discharging patients with transitional care. Staying patients may be provided with long-term care (LTC) assessment three days prior to discharge to allow seamless LTC availability. LTC applicants with physical or mental challenges, or as dementia patients >50 years of age, disabled indigenous people >55 years of age, or disabled elderly >65 years of age deemed eligible may be provided with transportation, in-home care, assistive device service, accessible home renovations, catering service, and respite care.
Miss Wang’s father, 81, was hospitalized and bed-ridden due to bone fracture resulted from fall, managed with surgery. While discharging is encouraging news, Wang became concerned about the burden related to further care. The discharge preparation team offered assistance in applying for LTC service to hasten access. Her father was assigned an in-home caregiver to help with bathing and diaper changing. An electric hospital bed was procured to facilitate limb activity restoration via reablement training. Also, respite care helps reduce the burden by allowing some time of respite out of work hours.
According to the Department’s statistical data, more than 80% of transitional care applicants received the service within 7 days after discharge in 2023, suggesting that the required service is generally delivered in a timely manner. The application process is simple: submit an application to the discharge preparation team of the hospital during hospitalization for an assessment of LTC classification, and discuss with the care management specialist and case manager to define the LTC service program based on the extent of disability for appropriate referral. This streamlines the application process and transition to in-home care.
For the hospitals in Taoyuan offering transitional care and its process, visit Taoyuan Department of Public Health’s LTC Portal (URL: https://care.tycg.gov.tw; “Discharge Preparation Service” under the category “LTC Resource Availability” [direct link URL: https://care.tycg.gov.tw/cp.aspx?n=386]), or dial 1966 at office hours.