Who hasn’t tripped over the threshold when getting up to go to the toilet in the middle of the night?
There is a special feature of old apartments in Taipei. The bathroom always has a threshold of more than ten centimeters high, and the tiles have been worn smooth and shiny after thirty years of use. If young people stepped on it, they would curse at most, but if elders stepped on it, they would be unlucky enough to have a hip fracture and be hospitalized for half a year. To put it bluntly, this is not alarmist - Taiwan will officially enter a "super-aged society" by the end of 2025, with the proportion of the population over 65 years old exceeding 20%, with Taipei City having the highest rate in the country at 24.18%, and New Taipei City also approaching the 20% threshold. In other words, one out of every four to five households in Shuangbei now has elders living in them. Most of these houses are old apartments that are 20 or 30 years old, and accessibility has not been considered at all.
Why are elders particularly prone to falls at home?
As you get older, your sense of balance naturally deteriorates. Coupled with the deterioration of your eyesight and sometimes dizziness when taking medicine, walking is inherently unstable. The proportion of elderly people injured at home has always been relatively high, and bathrooms are the hardest hit area - slippery tiles, high and low thresholds, and dim light at night, creating almost a triple risk. What's more troublesome is that after falling once, the elders often reduce their activities because they are afraid of falling again. Their physical strength becomes worse and worse, and they are more likely to fall a second time. This is how a vicious cycle begins.
In fact, many people have never applied for long-term care subsidies
Many people don’t know this: the government has substantial subsidies for “home accessibility improvement”, and not only low-income households can receive them. As long as the level of long-term care needs assessed by the long-term care management center reaches level 2 or above, seniors over 65 years old and those with disability certificates are eligible. The subsidy ratio is divided into three levels: 70% subsidy for general households and 30% self-payment; 90% subsidy and 10% self-payment for low- and middle-income households; and full subsidy for registered low-income households. It's very simple to apply. Call the 1966 long-term care service hotline, and a care specialist will come to your home to evaluate your home. After the approval, the payment can be written off by submitting photos of the handrail installation, house ownership certificate and other documents to the application within six months. In addition, Changzhao 3.0 will also add a "full rental smart technology assistive device" subsidy starting from July 1, 2026, with a three-year quota of approximately 60,000 yuan. Equipment such as bed exit detection and safe viewing can be rented, reducing the one-time burden.
From the simplest to the most thorough, practical modifications
- Install handrails next to the bathroom toilet and in the shower room. Be sure to lock it into the keel of the wall or add a base plate reinforcement. The handrails bought online are locked on the tiles and appear to be solid. However, they can easily fall off when the elders put their whole body weight on them. For this kind of project, it is recommended to find a master to evaluate the construction on site.
- Replace the bathroom and kitchen floors with anti-slip tiles or add anti-slip strips. Remove the threshold if it can be removed. If it cannot be removed, add a slope board to transition.
- Insert sensor night lights in the entrance, walkways, and beside the bed, so you don’t have to look for the switch in the dark when you get up at night.
- The door handles are all replaced with lever handles, which can be opened and closed easily even with weak hands.
- While applying for long-term care subsidy, please ask the care specialist to evaluate what areas of the home need to be improved. The evaluation report will also be used when applying for write-off.
Handrails are not decorative items. The armrest was not locked into the load-bearing structure, and the moment the elder's entire weight pressed down on it, it was like pretending to be in vain.
Some of the most misunderstood things about elders’ home safety
- "You can still walk, but you don't need to install handrails first" - Usually it is only after a fall and fracture that the family regrets not dealing with it earlier. Prevention is always cheaper than aftermath.
- “You can buy handrails online and lock them yourself.” - Handrails that are not locked into the wall structure are equivalent to not being installed at the moment of load-bearing, which is a waste of money and creates a false sense of security.
- "Only low-income households can apply for the subsidy" - general households also receive 70% of the subsidy, but the out-of-pocket ratio is higher.
- “Apply once, and you don’t have to worry about it again” – Long-term care benefits are usually paid in three-year installments, and you need to re-evaluate the amount after that.
Finding a master for evaluation is more important than you think
Projects such as bathroom handrails and non-slip floors are, to put it bluntly, the professional scope of plumbing decoration. It involves whether the locking points are locked in the load-bearing structure, whether the anti-slip material on the floor and the drainage slope will fight with each other. DIY DIY often focuses on one thing and misses the other. It is recommended to choose a water and electricity repair team that is familiar with the pipelines and wall structures of the Shuangbei old house. They can more accurately determine the locking points of the load-bearing walls and the drainage slope during the on-site survey and assessment, while taking into account the structural safety of the items in the long-term assessment report and the actual construction.
Instead of waiting for an accident to happen, it is better to put it into the plan now
Shuangbei is aging the fastest in Taiwan. If there are elders at home, there is really no need to wait for bathroom thresholds, handrails, and night lights to deal with things like bathroom thresholds, handrails, and night lights. The long-term care subsidy application process is not complicated. It can be started with a 1966 call and a care specialist's visit to the house for assessment. The rest is left to professional masters to ensure the structural safety. This investment will allow the elders to move around with peace of mind every day.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs' latest "Regulations on Consumer Electrical Equipment Installation" and the key points of electricity safety in old houses
Due to the popularity of high-power household appliances (such as air fryers, microwave ovens, dishwashers, instantaneous electric water heaters, and IH furnaces) in recent years, the Energy Administration of the Ministry of Economic Affairs has revised the "Regulations on Consumer Electrical Equipment Installation" many times to strictly require the diversion and protection mechanisms of residential electricity circuits. Statistics show that more than 30% of building fires in Taiwan are caused by electrical factors, among which "old wire insulation deteriorates and short circuits", "socket contacts are oxidized and loose, poor contact" and "non-fuse switch (NFB) overloaded and failed to trip" are the three main fatal causes.
Old apartments in Shuangbei that are more than 30 years old have a total original designed power capacity of only 30A to 40A, and several rooms often share the same 1.6mm or 2.0mm circuit. In the modern standard safety configuration, kitchen electrical cabinets, bathroom equipment, and air-conditioning and heating machines must all be equipped with 5.5mm² dedicated circuits (single circuit and single socket). It is recommended that the main switch box be upgraded to a busbar (Busbar) integrated distribution board, and the total amperage is increased to 75A or 100A (a qualified electrical appliance contractor needs to be entrusted to Taipower to review the additional power capacity).
Residential electricity self-test and regular inspection checklist
- Appearance and temperature of the socket: Touch the outer cover of the commonly used socket lightly with the back of your hand. If it feels lukewarm or if you find that the plastic socket is yellowed and charred, or the plug is loose and shaking after being plugged in, it means that the internal copper plate clamping force is exhausted or the contact resistance is too high, and you should immediately cut off the power and replace it.
- Regular testing of earth leakage circuit breakers (ELCB):For leakage circuit breakers in humid places such as balconies, bathrooms, and kitchen sinks, regulations require that the "TEST button" on the switch be pressed once every 1 to 3 months to confirm that it can automatically trip and cut off the power supply instantly.
- Serial connection and overloading of extension cords are strictly prohibited: Extension cords should be purchased with 2.0mm thick wire diameter products that have CNS certification and automatic overload power-off protection. Do not share the same extension cord with high energy-consuming appliances to ensure zero hidden danger to life and property at home.
