Aging & Social Change: Twelfth Interdisciplinary Conference

Abstract

This study analyzes the changes of service users’ perception of normalization of life after receiving day care services, and accordingly to propose suggestions helpful for promoting the life of the elderly. This study was carried out with a quantitative method. The Normalization of Life Scale (24 items) consists of four dimensions: life well-being (6 items), psychological well-being (5 items), social well-being (5 items), and spiritual well-being (8 items). The study randomly selected service users from four counties and cities in Taiwan as samples, and conducted data collection through face-to-face questionnaire interviews. A total of 180 valid questionnaires were collected. The main findings include: (1) gender, education level, ethnic background, marital status and physical health are all significant variables that affect the normalization of life; (2) the overall normalization of life and spiritual well-being are improved after service use , but the life, psychological and social well-being are decreased slightly; (3) After using the service, the frequency of interaction with family members is significantly increased, and the relationship of interaction is also significantly improved. The main recommendations of this study are as follows: (1) To realize the concept of active aging by promoting the function of day care service; (2) To increase the acceptance of service users by creating a homelike atmosphere in day care center. (3) To meet the needs of multi-cultural care by considering the particularities of minority group; (4) To improve accessibility of services by increasing the coverage of day care in rural areas.