| dc.description.abstract | Aging population has become a global issue in the 21st century, especially in Taiwan. Since 1993, Taiwan has literally been included in an aging society; in the meantime, we have to face the difficult situations in politics, economy and ethics. This study deals with the issues of justice and wellbeing involved in the management of the long-term care for the aged, and the equal issues in distribution and the wellbeing of health care. This study also tries to make some proposal for Taiwan's long-term care system for the elderly towards the end.
This study starts with an examination of the theory of health care of Norman Daniels, which is based upon John Rawls’s theory of justice. Due to enormous need of healthcare and ever rising expenditure of health care, even the most advanced countries, there are always controversial opinions on how much be allocated for health care. Daniels insists that healthcare is a right and it is a positive right is, as it relates to the range of fair equality of opportunities that are opening to all, therefore patients have rights to certain basic medical services. Besides advocating basic rights of health care, this study emphasizes what is important for the aged people is “the basic capability to maintain a normal life”, in which the quality of life is estimated in an objective way, especially the level of “value and dignity of life”. We opt for the practice of advance directives as is promoted in the Hospice Palliative Medicine Act for the elderly to maintain dignity and a better life in Taiwan.
Both Rawls and Daniels made little exploration on the problem of wellbeing in their theory of justice healthcare. Therefore, this study tries to make good of this part of healthcare from the perspective of Confucianism. Confucians concern much with the vulnerable sectors of the population including, widowers, widowers, young without parents, old without family, the disabled and the sick and try to have all well taken care of. Although it is the government that is held accountable for taking care of and supporting them for their living with quality, yet from the viewpoint of Confucianism, everyone has the obligation to help others to manifest in full their mandates and natural talents, especially those weak and vulnerable to achieve a live with wellbeing. In this way, both justice and wellbeing are fully covered.
Lastly, the problem of justice of Taiwan’s long-term care system is examined in accordance with the benchmarks of fairness in Daniels’ theory and Confucian ideas, and we arrive at some practical proposal for the reform of Taiwan’s long term healthcare program for the aged. It is some combination of self-help, help-others, mutual help, so that every person’s needs at each stage of life can be met, and one’s wellbeing of life could be achieved throughout one’s whole span of life. | en_US |