Lai Ching‑te emphasizes Long‑Term Care 3.0 at National Filial Award ceremony

President Lai Ching-te personally attended the National Filial Piety Awards ceremony held in Chiayi County today, using the occasion to honor exemplary models of filial piety from across the country and reaffirm the government's commitment to family care and elderly well-being. In his remarks, he emphasized that as Taiwan faces a rapidly approaching aging society, long-term care policies cannot slow down. The newly launched Long-Term Care 3.0 initiative serves as a crucial policy through which the state will share the burden of caregiving with every dutiful child. Through state intervention and resource deployment, the goal is not only to ensure that seniors enjoy dignity and proper care in the latter stages of life, but also to alleviate the heavy burden on family caregivers, providing them with respite and the sustained strength to accompany their loved ones.

The National Filial Piety Awards have long served as an important platform for discovering the warm and uplifting forces within society, with this year's winners from across the nation sharing deeply touching stories. Many recipients have shouldered the heavy responsibility of caregiving without hesitation when faced with elderly, disabled, or seriously ill family members, offering selfless dedication day after day and year after year. President Lai expressed his utmost respect and gratitude to these role models one by one during the ceremony, noting that they embody Taiwan society's most core traditional virtue—a sense of responsibility toward the family and filial piety toward elders. However, the President also acknowledged that with changing modern social structures, relying solely on individuals or single families to bear the increasingly heavy pressure of caregiving often leaves caregivers physically and mentally exhausted.

Recognizing the hardships and helplessness of family caregivers, President Lai elaborated on the government's determination and evolution in promoting long-term care policies. From the foundations laid by Long-Term Care 1.0 to the substantial expansion of service items and centers under Long-Term Care 2.0, the government has stepped up step-by-step to construct Taiwan's social safety net. The official launch of Long-Term Care 3.0 now symbolizes that the national long-term care policy is entering a more comprehensive and meticulous new phase. Using the phrase "the state will accompany everyone in fulfilling filial piety," President Lai precisely highlighted the shift in the government's role: caring for the elderly is no longer merely a private matter for individual families, but a public responsibility that the state must share. The government has a duty to act as the strongest and most reliable backing for all dutiful children and family caregivers through a dense service network.

The core spirit of Long-Term Care 3.0 lies in deepening the integration of medical care and caregiving, while further addressing post-discharge transitional care, dementia care, and the needs of families with severely disabled individuals. In the past, many families found themselves at a loss when elderly relatives returned home from the hospital. Through institutionalized connections, Long-Term Care 3.0 allows professional medical teams and care workers to intervene earlier, reducing the panic and burden on family members. Furthermore, targeting the physical and mental health of caregivers themselves, the long-term care policy has significantly increased the quotas and convenience of respite services, ensuring that caregivers have the opportunity to rest, catch their breath, and maintain their quality of life, thereby possessing sufficient physical and mental strength to continue accompanying the elderly.

From a macro perspective of national development, facing the severe challenges of a super-aged society, a comprehensive long-term care system is not only a social welfare policy but also a crucial indicator of national competitiveness and the foundation of social stability. By choosing to attend the award ceremony in Chiayi County, President Lai not only affirmed grassroots models of filial piety but also took the opportunity to declare to the public the government's commitment and determination to advance long-term care. When the state can provide high-quality adult day care centers, home care services, community care spots, and subsidies for residential care institutions, seniors can age with dignity in familiar environments, while the younger generation can achieve a better balance between the workplace and family, no longer forced to give up their jobs or lives due to caregiving pressures.

In summary, today's National Filial Piety Awards ceremony was not only the highest recognition of the personal virtues of the winners, but also an important event that gathered social consensus. Under President Lai's witness and policy declaration, the traditional virtue of filial piety has received the strongest and most powerful institutional support through the modern national long-term care system. The promotion of Long-Term Care 3.0 sends a warm and clear signal to society: on the land of Taiwan, the path of pursuing filial piety and caring for the elderly is never a lonely one, because the state will forever accompany every family in turning filial devotion into practical action and strength.