ATTITUDES TOWARD OLDER ADULTS AND LONG-TERM CARE: INSURANCE AGENTS AND THE INSURED IN TAIWAN

Abstract

Background: Taiwan is becoming the fastest aging countries in the world and both public and private long-term care insurance are being discussed. Purpose: The paper was to examine how private long-term care insurance agents and the insured view their long-term care needs and attitudes toward older adults. Methodology: A survey was conducted in 2015 from 415 people participated in the survey consisted of questions on demographic characteristics, long-term care needs and views, and attitude toward older adults. Results: The participants were mostly female (79.8%), middle-age of 45 to 64 years old (63.6%), married (70.5%), and with at least high school education (86.9%). While most participants had no caregiving experiences (60.5%), they were starting to prepare about long-term care by gathering information (80.6%). A correlation analysis revealed that long-term care preparation was positively related with education, monthly living expenses and with caregiving experiences. Discussion and Conclusion: Those who started to prepare for long-term care were more educated, with higher living expenses and had prior caregiving experiences. Most participants thought older adults had excessive demands for love, had shabby home, and unable to change. Positive attitudes were the older adults were different from one another, preferred to work as long as they can, and neighborhoods were nice when integrated with the older adults. This paper suggests that people view attitudes toward older adults and preparation for long-term care may come with stereotypes or prior experiences.