The Time Reserve Bank System in Taiwan

1
The Time Reserve Bank System in Taiwan

• Michael S. Chen Doris Y. Lin

2
Population Aging in Taiwan

• Age above 65 accounted for 9.1(2003.6), will
  culminate at 30 in 2050.
• The elderly who needed LTC was182,351, and will
  be 250,000 in 2035.

3
LTC Delivery in Taiwan

• Excess in supply in institutionalized facilities,
  way more than the ideal 30
• Community care currently being promoted by
  government with demonstrative projects, mainly in
  the area of in-home care, seconded by day care.
• Home care Currently 80 of it is provided by
  families.

4
Volunteers in the Development of LTC

• As Taiwan turned into an aging society (as
  defined by United Nations), the formal care was
  in great deficiency and much of the care had to
  rely on the volunteers. Many NPOs developed
  around that time as consequences.
• As a policy for boosting employment, government
  pushed for a care industry in 2002. This paid
  system somewhat marginalized the development of
  the voluntary sector.

5
Volunteers in the Delivery of LTC in Taiwan

• Human Resources of Accessibility Volunteers are
  closer to home.
• Human Resources of non-professional capacity
  mainly for providing living assistance.
• Human Resources free of ChargeFree of charge,
  but bootstrappingcosts, such as training and
  placement, necessary.

6
What is a Time Reserve Bank

• It is a "bank", usually set up and operated by a
  charitable or a nonprofit organization as a way
  of promoting voluntary service to the targeted
  clientele,  that keeps records of the service
  hours of a volunteer, and the "deposited credit"
  can be "withdrawn" on the demand of the volunteer
  who has earned (deposited) the credit for the
  need of this volunteer him/herself or the need of
  a designated person.  In the case of withdrawals,
  the organization that operates the "bank" will
  have to arrange another volunteer to provide the
  service.  The latter volunteer would earn credit
  of his/her own by providing the service.

7
Development of Time Reserve Bank in Taiwan

• Initiated and run mainly by two voluntary
  organizations Hondao and old-5-old Foundations.
• A major earthquake in 1999 put a project
  commissioned by DOH to the back burner.
• MOI kicked off a movement for such a system at
  the community level by creating a Committee for
  Time Reserve Bank, in 2003. The Committee was
  divided in feasibility, timing, etc. The
  effec-tiveness of the Committee remains to be
  seen.

8
Research Methods and the Researchers

• Participatory observation/Action Research
• The first author has been in the research of this
  kind for years the second author is currently
  the special aide to Hondaos CEO, and is
  responsible for the implementation of the Time
  Reserve Bank.

9
Time Reserve Bank and Hondao Foundation for the
Elderly

• Launched the system in 1995.
• Participants Currently, 77 Hondao sites and
  three others (2598 volunteers) are involved.
  Only the organization caring for the elderly are
  considered at this stage.
• Depositing Only the number of hours considered,
  have not considered other dimensions of the
  service.
• Withdrawing The sites are still sparse, not
  convenient for withdrawing. Only 11 withdrawals
  so far (10 for the parents , one for self).

10
Time Reserve Bank and Old-5-Old Foundation

• Launched the system in1998, aiming at
  consolidating all potential sites, serving mostly
  interfacing and networking functions.
• Participants 141 (including the 77 Hondao sites)
  groups (some 7 thousand volunteers) involved.
• Depositing value of hours weighted by the
  intensity of work.
• Withdrawing None!

11
Outline of Our Proposal
12
Lessons Learned (I)

• The Incubator as the core of the
  infrastructure the Incubator is the powerhouse
  for the system.
• Emphasize on Reciprocity instead of pure charity
• Emphasize on Networking instead of in-house
  service sites, as a strategy for a plural system.

13
LESSONS LEARNED (II)

• Begin with a single service to avoid
  prohibitively high transaction costs phasing
  into multiple services as the system stabilizes.
• Not to replace all the community care, especially
  not the component of skilled professional
  services.

14
The Administration

• Transaction Center Centralized, Nationwide (CNS
  the Central Nerve System)
• Decentralized Centers of the Incubator to
  accommodate the local situation

15
Functions of the Incubator Centers

• To enhance volunteers' abilities in recruiting
  personnel's, fundraising, financial planning,
  administration, etc.
• To cultivate the abilities in delivering LTC
  services. It is advisable to extend the services
  to cover the ordinary, not just to cover the
  indigentclient, so long as the ordinary
  client has earned credit by herself or other
  volunteers, such as her children.
• To develop and harness the idle resources in the
  community.

16
Diagram of the Proposed Structure
Volunteer Groups
Apply
Area Incubator
Approve
Provisional sites
Formal sites
Deposit withdraw
deposit Withdraw
Area Incubator
The Administrative Center
17
Objectives

• Short Term Establish the Model of the service
  site
• Middle term More sites to cover wider area
• Long Term Accumulate social capital for further
  developments.

18
Guidelines for Further Development

• Government finances the bootstrapping efforts,
  but not be directive.
• Make best use of modern technology of
  informatics.
• Find an appropriate mix between the volunteers
  and the professionals.

19

• The voluntary system is superior in efficiency,
  efficacy ,quality, and safety.
• -- Richard Titmus