DBS Foundation joins hands with local partners to expand support activities for the elderly to respond to needs at different stages of life. From left: Xu Huayi, CEO of Yangsheng Charitable Foundation, Huang Sihan, general manager of DBS Bank (Taiwan), Li Zhaojia, CEO of Christian Mustard Seed Association, Ji Jinshan, executive of Youben Co., Ltd., and Huang Songgong, chairman of Hongyang Health Care Co., Ltd.
As Taiwan's elderly population continues to rise, the DBS Foundation announced today that it has launched three major projects in partnership with Youben Co., Ltd., Yang Sheng Charitable Foundation and the Christian Mustard Seed Society, investing NT$12.77 million (approximately NT$320 million). It also announced that Taiwan's first "DBS Foundation Outstanding Impact Award" winner Hong Yang Health Care Co., Ltd. was awarded a bonus of SGD 1 million (approximately NT$25 million). The four actions cover discharge home care, health promotion, employment support and assistive device rental. It is expected to benefit more than 9,680 disadvantaged elders, train 2,448 life care workers, assist 7,200 family caregivers to stabilize their employment, and support more than 100,000 people through assistive device rental and discharge home services, with a total number of beneficiaries of 124,000.
As life gets longer and longer, how to maintain quality, choice and dignity has become a common issue across generations. On average, Taiwanese people face about 8 years of unhealthy life expectancy, which is equivalent to about 10% of the average life span spent in unhealthy conditions such as disease and disability. On the other hand, due to declining birthrates and changes in demographic structure, the working-age population to support the elderly population is also gradually decreasing. According to the latest population projections from the National Development Council, there are currently an average of 3.2 working-age people supporting each senior citizen, which will drop to 1.2 by 2055, highlighting the urgency of extending healthy lives, supplementing care support, and stabilizing family livelihoods.
Huang Sihan, general manager of DBS Bank (Taiwan), said that Taiwanese society is entering a critical period of transformation. Facing the challenge of aging, it is necessary to break away from the traditional thinking of "filling the gap" and regard it as an opportunity to promote social innovation. In addition to using its financial expertise to help customers build financial resilience early for a longer life, DBS also extends its attention to the lives and livelihoods of disadvantaged groups through the DBS Foundation. From conceptual changes to practical actions, DBS responds to the needs of different life stages, so that health, care and life independence can receive more complete support. So far, DBS Foundation has promoted seven long-term cooperation projects on aging and related issues in Taiwan. Together with the "DBS Foundation Incentive Program" and the "DBS Foundation Outstanding Impact Award", the total investment has exceeded NT$650 million. Continue to bring together expertise and resources from different fields, innovative solutions and local action forces to create influence beyond the banking industry.
Invested NT$320 million to launch three major projects
Project Plan 1: Filling up the care gap after discharge from hospital and returning home
DBS Foundation joins hands with Youben Co., Ltd. to promote the "Support Service for Elderly People Living Alone to Return Home Safely after Discharge", focusing on the critical recovery period after discharge from the hospital for vulnerable elderly people. Research shows that about 23.3% of the population over 65 years old in Taiwan live alone. If they lack appropriate support after returning home from hospital, about 50% of them are likely to suffer from physical deterioration. In addition, 20.3% of the elderly have unplanned re-hospitalization within 90 days of discharge.
In order to fill the gap in care after discharge and reduce the risk of re-hospitalization, this project plans to create the first "14-day care support + 1-year continuous companionship" model to provide daily care, medication reminders, medical accompaniment and care tracking, and combine AI technology, LINE digital platform and community support network to help vulnerable elderly people living alone smoothly after discharge. It facilitates the transition to home life; at the same time, through standardized training and certification mechanisms, it assists middle-aged and elderly people, second-time employed women and disadvantaged job seekers to become "life caregivers", supplementing community care capabilities and creating local employment opportunities. It is expected to serve 3,600 vulnerable elderly people living alone in four years and train 2,448 life caregivers.
Project Plan 2: Bring healthy aging into daily life
DBS Foundation joins hands with Yang Sheng Charitable Foundation, which has long been involved in promoting health for the elderly, to promote the "Healthy Self-Healing Action" to enhance the elderly's independent health management capabilities and delay disability, social isolation and deterioration of physical and mental functions. Since its establishment in 2012, the Yangsheng Charitable Foundation has gradually developed the "3+1 self-healing health promotion model", starting from diet, exercise, living habits and interpersonal support, and continues to invest in health promotion for the elderly. According to its effectiveness research, the lower limb muscle strength of the elderly who participated in the course increased by 14.5% on average, cardiorespiratory endurance and mobility increased by 10% to 13%, and the overall pain level decreased by 26.7%.
This project will continue the empirical results and service experience accumulated by Yang Sheng Charitable Foundation for many years, and combine physical courses, LINE digital companionship and behavior tracking mechanisms to accompany the elderly to integrate healthy habits into daily life and age with dignity; and further expand the service to Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung, Kaohsiung and Pingtung to reduce the burden on the long-term care and social welfare systems in the future. It is expected to serve 6,080 elderly people in four years and train 150 community health lecturers.
Project Plan 3: From skills training to stable employment
DBS Foundation and the Mustard Seed Christian Church jointly promote the "Project Power Star" to strengthen the employability and economic resilience of vulnerable family caregivers. The impact of aging also extends to the family and workplace. According to statistics, there are approximately 2.64 million people of working age in Taiwan who have no intention of employment, and about half of them have interrupted their work or left the workplace due to caring responsibilities. On the other hand, social welfare groups estimate that the actual poverty rate in Taiwan is approximately 12% to 13%, about 2.8 million to 3 million people, but there are only about 530,000 people in low-income or low-middle-income households. This reflects that there is still a group of "missing middle" groups in Taiwan who may not be eligible for existing social assistance but continue to suffer from economic pressure. Middle)" may fall outside the existing social safety net.
In order to respond to the needs of vulnerable family caregivers in returning to work and maintaining a stable livelihood, this project plan starts from the three major aspects of digital, financial and employment inclusion, combining AI Career platform, skills training, career companionship, internship matchmaking and employment connection, and 18 community training bases have been established across Taiwan to form a support network from ability development, workplace connection to stable employment. It is expected to assist 12,000 vulnerable family caregivers to improve their employability, 7,200 people to stabilize their employment, and cultivate 500 middle-aged and elderly career companions, for a total of 12,500 beneficiaries.
The first winner of the "DBS Foundation Outstanding Impact Award" receives a bonus of NT$25 million
The DBS Foundation will launch the "DBS Foundation Outstanding Impact Award" in 2024 to look for business models that combine innovation and scale to support companies in accelerating growth and expanding social impact. This year, "Hong Yang Health" stood out from many companies in the Asian market and became the first winner of the "DBS Foundation Outstanding Impact Award" in Taiwan. It was awarded a bonus of SGD 1 million (approximately NT$25 million), demonstrating the development potential of Taiwan's innovative solutions for the elderly.
"Hongyang Health" connects medical institutions, pharmacies, home care and long-term care services to provide integrated services for returning home from the hospital. It also introduces Japan's assistive device rental experience into Taiwan and develops a recycling rental model of assistive devices. It provides appropriate equipment according to the elderly's different care and rehabilitation stages. While reducing the burden on families to obtain care resources, it also improves the efficiency of equipment use and reduces idleness and waste of resources.
With the support of DBS Foundation, "Hong Yang Health" will further expand smart assistive devices and discharge home services in the next two years. It is expected to add 15 hospitals and 40 parent care agency partners to serve more than 100,000 people in need of care, allowing innovative, affordable and sustainable service models to enter more families.
Combined with DBS ecosystem resources to expand longevity social layout in Taiwan
This new cooperation continues DBS Foundation’s two main axes of “providing daily necessities and promoting social inclusion” and expands the scope of action on elderly issues in recent years, so that the focus is not only on “how to care for the elderly”, but also extends to different life stages such as family livelihood, work and social participation. In the future, DBS Foundation will continue to integrate local partners, innovative enterprises and DBS ecosystem resources to practice "doing good deeds and achieving a better future".
