Gan-Dau Healthy Longevity Plan: The Community Model for Healthy Aging

Abstract

P aging is a global phenomenon. As one of the fastest aging countries in the world, Taiwan needs health plans with strong supporting evidences to respond to all challenges related to rapid population aging. The health plans should be community-based and person-centered, with optimal integration between all health and social care providers. Gan-Dau is a geographic region of the Beitou District of Taipei City where resides approximately 53,000 inhabitants and the percentage of people aged 65 years and older is over 18% in 2022. The name of Gan-Dau is originated from the aboriginal Taiwanese centuries ago and describes the connection of two rivers. As the name speaks for itself, Gan-Dau has been the wharf for fishermen for hundreds of years, and has transformed into a cluster of hightech industries, healthcare facilities, educational facilities, and recreational activities nowadays with well-preserved traditional cultures. Currently, Gan-Dau is a community with heterogenous composition of population, social activities, and lifestyles, which is suitable to be the pioneer site for community-based health plans of healthy aging. With the support from Taiwan’s National Health Research Institutes, the Taipei Municipal Gan-Dau Hospital, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, and industrial partners, Gau-Dau has become the pioneer site for examining the overall effects of implementing serial healthy longevity plans beyond individual clinical trials. Moreover, the Gan-Dau Healthy Longevity Plan actively collaborates with Japan’s National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, University of Tokyo, and the Cleveland Clinic of the United States to strengthen regional and global impacts to promote global healthy aging.