Yang Fumin / for Grandpa and Grandma, Niuli Community made a pair of socks, which are suitable for mountain and sea movement and can take care of the elders.

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Taiwan entered the so-called aging society as early as 1993. In 2018, the Ministry of the Interior officially announced that Taiwan's elderly population had reached 14%, officially entering the "aging society." But has Taiwan really entered an aging society? Or are we only "aging" when we are old?

At different stages of life, there are almost all kinds of education and companionship. For example, when entering puberty, health education classes will tell children what puberty is; before graduating from college, there will also be teachers to assist in career guidance; novice parents will also receive parenting manuals from the hospital when their children are born; for women entering menopause, there are also gynaecological clinics that can help consult about physical changes. However, the only thing about getting old is that no one has ever told us how to get old and what happens when we get old.

The fact that Taiwan is moving towards an old age society (Photo courtesy / Niuli Association)

You Yafan, secretary of the Niuli Association, described it as getting old. "it's like when the wind-bell trees are still jubilant after the New year, they suddenly find that they have turned yellow overnight," she said. " The elders in the village told her this sentence. They say that when they reach a certain age, before they even know it, they will find that their knees are weak and their bodies are rickets. When they look in the mirror carefully, they will find their hair has turned gray. Getting old is such a thing, you will suddenly say ──! I'm old.

Older people who are first faced with such symptoms may be anxious to find that their physical strength is getting weaker and worse, that they are in physical condition, and that they even need help, even if they go out with their families, they will find that they are less and less able to keep up with others. In the course of the association's survey, most of the elderly are not afraid of getting old, which is a necessary process of life. However, what they are most worried about is to become a burden on their families. They are afraid that their families are waiting for him to keep up and worry that they will have to work hard for him.

Talking about this situation, Secretary you reminded that the Taiwan government has long noticed the health and psychological changes of the elderly. Around 2009, the Ministry of Education led the elderly to learn about aging through the Lele Learning Center, just as we used to teach children what puberty is and why they feel throbbing about the opposite sex or the same sex. However, if we simply teach the elderly to grow old, will our society naturally move towards aging? Her answer is no.

You need to learn to grow old (photo courtesy of Niuli Association). In a truly aging society, you should really understand the needs of old age.

The Niuli Association, which has been engaged in advanced age business for a long time and has set up up to 11 village courses and strongholds in Shoufeng Township, Hualien County, believes that Taiwan is not really moving towards an aging society ──: "We are simply because the average age has arrived."

"our comprehensive cognitive aging alone is still not enough to enter a truly aging society." Secretary you said that many people who first hold children and grandchildren will begin to pay attention to the environment at home, put protective stickers on the sharp corners of the furniture, and pay attention to whether the moving lines of the space will easily cause harm to the children. However, no one has noticed whether we will install handrails in the living room to help the elderly in the family. Some families will start to buy electric cars for their elders, but forget to set up sockets in the parking place.

She believes that the so-called real aging society lies not only in the enhancement of the knowledge of the elderly among people of different ages, but also in the overall improvement of the hardware of the whole society. One time the experience touched them. Members of the association went to the elders' homes to pick up Grandpa for class. The young members of the association couldn't find Grandpa outside, so they broke into Grandpa's house and found Grandpa sitting on the edge of the bed, not knowing what he was doing in the dim light.

He complained to his grandfather that he had been screaming for so long, why didn't he respond? Grandpa said that he could not hear more and more. So while the young man was thinking that the room was so dark, he found the light switch and asked Grandpa why he didn't turn on the light. Ah Gongcai said, ah, it's too troublesome to walk over there.

After turning on the light, he finally saw clearly that Grandpa was sitting on the edge of the bed trying to button up his shirt. So he helped Grandpa put on his clothes, but he could not help but say a few words: the shirt is so troublesome, why wear it? Grandpa was silent for a while. It was only after getting on the bus that he said that he could not raise his hand and could not take off his ordinary T-shirt.