The Health Promotion Administration (HPA) on Thursday shared tips on how to help people with dementia in a bid to remove stigma around the condition.
The number of people with dementia in Taiwan rose from 161,570 in 2016 to 174,552 in 2017, HPA Director-General Wang Ying-wei said, citing Ministry of Health and Welfare data.
Of the 50,000 people with dementia who had a Disability Identification Card in 2016, 85 percent lived with their family, 76.2 percent of whom said they would go outside sometimes, making a dementia-friendly neighborhood an issue of concern, Wang said.
A dementia-friendly neighborhood requires four elements: friendly residents, organizations and environments, as well as active social participation in offering assistance, Wang said.
The HPA hopes to remove biases and discrimination against dementia by improving public knowledge of the illness, he said.
To help employees in workplaces learn more about how to help people with dementia, the HPA launched three videos that respectively feature breakfast shop employees, hypermarket workers and building security guards who encounter people with dementia in need of help, he added.
While people with mild or early-stage dementia can perform most daily tasks without problems, they could experience a sudden loss of memory or speech, Wang said, adding that people can help by reminding them of possible ways to continue the original tasks, which could alleviate their frustration.
