Taipei Medical University(TMU) links arts with community care to promote good practice in enhancing health of the elderly in the local communities.
In collaboration with Chiayi County Health Bureau in southern Taiwan, the TMU Center
for Arts and Humanities once again took its health empowerment program to southwestern
Taiwan with a series of activities including handicraft courses, puzzle games
and qigong courses for the elderly in Chiayi County.
Integrating learning of knowledge and visitation to galleries and museums, the community care helps improve the elderly’s quality of life through immersion in artifacts. In doing so, the idea of “localizing the artistic culture, aestheticizing the community medical care” is brought alive.
The significance of active ageing is to “activate” the vitality, the meaningful living, the wisdom of the elderly, and the solutions for an ageing society through the high-quality services for the elderly with singing, dining and
living together of fun.
Apart from paying attention to one’s own physical health under the pandemic, companionship and mental health are of importance to keep one from panic or anxiety while the social distancing policy is being widely implemented.
For that reason, Taipei Medical University Active Aging Center has been offering group courses such as gong sound healing and body structural realignment to communities since October 2020, bringing much-appreciated color into the daily life of senior citizens in the neighbourhood.