[The Response of Tribal Cultural Care to the Physical and Emotional Needs of Older Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic].

ABSTRACT

As Taiwan's society ages, Tribal Cultural Health Stations serve as in situ long-term care centers that are committed to building a long-term care service model for indigenous peoples based on cultural care. The cultural sensitivity, cultural ability, and tribal ability of long-term care planners and professional helpers remains insufficient, making it difficult to achieve the policy goals of "designing for the tribes and for the locals" and "creating a cultural care mechanism". However, based on a foundation of local blood and geo-relationship and through the care expertise and interpersonal network established through long-term tribal cultivation and service, a cultural care mechanism that meets local awareness, local needs, and human trust has been formed by expanding linkages among the resources of all local stakeholders. During the COVID-19 epidemic, this has helped facilitate the recovery of the emotional and physical health of older tribal adults. For example, caregivers have been able to help ease the anxieties among older adults in indigenous communities regarding vaccination, fear of infection, isolation, and interpersonal suspicions. In addition, the positive role of the tribal cultural care mechanism as a social safety valve during the pandemic has been demonstrated.