Paper
An Integrated Service Model for Community Care: Designing a Healthy Life for the Elderly in Taiwan
- Authors:
- Wen-Tzeng Huang; Yuan-Jen Chang; Li-Feng Lin; Chin-Hsing Chen
- Abstract
- Objective of this study is to investigate the acceptance of proposed Integrated Service Model for community care. In this study, we implemented an actual community healthcare system, which integrates resources of district hospital and community development associations (CDAs), and applied this system with the integrated service model to the elderly in a community for almost a year. Results showed that community elderly were encouraged to attend regular activities at the Neighbourhood Activity Centre, which were hosted by two major units, i.e., the CDA and the district hospital. During these activities, volunteers for community service regularly checked the vital signs of the community residents, including blood pressure, oxygen saturation of blood, heartbeat, and body temperature. The system served as a mediated tool for storage of vital signs and help the elderly communicate with medical staff easily. The statistic results showed that the behavioural intention of the community elderly in using this integrated service model is extremely related with such critical dimensions as “system accessibility” and “perceived usefulness” (p < 0.01). In addition, the novel concept of integrated service model integrating local CDA, the district hospital and volunteers for community healthcare service has a high degree of acceptance. Hence, constructing such an integrated service model can help the elderly in Taiwan achieve the ultimate targets of “aging in place” and “successful aging.”
- Keywords
- Health Services for the Aged; Information Management System; Service Mode;, Community Care
- StartPage
- 31
- EndPage
- 41
- Doi
- 10.5963/PHF0102001