According to the statistics on the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s National Health Insurance claim data, as of June 2021 there were about 279,000 people having sought medical attention due to dementia. As Taiwan enters the era of aging society, the number of dementia patients not only increases each year, and undermines personal health, but also poses a significant issue to the society. People need to share a continued concern for and commit to building a dementia-friendly environment in this post-pandemic era.

Since 2018, the Health Promotion Administration has been promoting “dementia-friendly communities” in 22 cities and counties across the nation, as well as constructing the entire island to be a social network for protecting dementia patients. In 2021, there are 60 dementia-friendly communities across the nation, with 434,000 dementia-friendly angels and 9,775 friendly organizations recruited, and as many as 1.3 million participants. Starting in October of 2021, HPA organizes the “Together on a Fantastic Journey in 2021” activities, including touring exhibitions through Northern, Central, and Southern Taiwan in November. Everyone are welcome to visit the exhibitions and understand that dementia is not an end but the start of a journey. Let’s accompany dementia patients with love in starting the journey.

To increase awareness and correct literacy of dementia among general public, and to remind people on alert for signs of dementia and to seek medical assistance in time, HPA organized an achievement presentation and press conference on the “Together on a Fantastic Journey in 2021”. The presentation combines an art-and-literature exhibition in the form of a gallery across space and time, illustrating the actual needs of dementia patients and their caretakers, and to see how people in the friendly communities jointly construct a dementia-friendly environment with their respective specialties and energy.

To allow people to better recognize and understand dementia and to enable more families with dementia to receive the help they need, this exhibition will work to advocate the results of dementia prevention nationwide. Thus, the touring exhibitions will take place on three occasions in November of 2021(please see attachment), to which the general public and particularly the young generations, are invited to better understand the issue of dementia. People who visit the physical exhibitions can upload their photos of visits and write warm messages for their senior relatives or parents, and publish on the “Together on a Fantastic Journey in 2021” fan page, where they can also like the page on site. A total of 100 limited canvas bags featuring the event theme will be given away, and after all the exhibitions have ended lottery gifts (NT$200-worth PX Mart coupon each) will be drawn and given to three visitors who liked the page during the event.

Dr. Chao-Chun Wu, Director General of HPA, hoped that through government policies and collaboration between civilians and industry sectors, combined with promotion through diverse channels, will allow people to pay attention to their own health, as well as perfecting the social network in Taiwan for protecting dementia patients. Let’s accompany dementia patients with love in starting a long and memorable journey.