“WE TAKE CARE OF OUR ELDERLY ON OUR OWN”: OBSERVATIONS ON AN AMIS COMMUNITY SENIOR CENTER IN TAIWAN

Abstract

AbstractFaced with population aging in Taiwanese society, the government has promulgated the “Long-term Care Services Act” as the principal legal basis for developing a comprehensive long-term care system for improving the quality of life of the elderly. Resources, however, are distributed unevenly between urban and rural areas. To compensate for this, scholars have recently introduced the concept of “Culture Care”, and called on locals to build up their own care network through cultural knowledge that integrates interpersonal relationships and the social resource of the community. This study was conducted from January 23rd to 31st in 2016, under the course “Field Methods of Cultural Anthropology (with Practices),” with assistance of the professor in arranging research area and connecting informants. The study describes how the concept of culture care works in a Taiwanese indigenous community’s senior center through participant observation and in-depth interviews. By understanding how the project was initiated, the organization of members, member interaction and local viewpoints on care of the elderly, it is found that clan-based caring boundaries, member interaction following the pattern of the Amis finawlan (age-set organization), curriculums focusing on member empowerment, and concerns of cultural heritage make the center not only a caring organization but also a social support network. In addition, the center enables every generation to take part in caring for the elderly and strengthens their social identity at the same time.