Caring for our seniors – private issue or public? The Asian scene

Abstract

The author put forward a framework in which the five domains of care needs of older people, that is, financial security, health and personal care, housing, psychosocial emotional care and seniors as ‘resources’, should be provided with a shared responsibility between public and private domains. The public domain denotes the State's indispensable role in developing viable legislations and policies, whereas the private domain refers to the market, the community, as well as the family and the individual. The five actors play their respective roles in attending to the specific needs of older people when they enter a different life stage that incurs physical, psychological and socio-economic changes. Relevant examples and issues arising from the various Asian countries/regions, including China, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, Korea and Hong Kong, would be cited.

Keywords:

• ageing population
• mixed economy of welfare
• elderly care
• Asia