Long-term Care Project for the Disabled People

XiaoMei , aged 40, is a person with multiple disabilities of cerebral palsy. Despite her physical and mental disabilities, she is relatively good in oral expression and cognitive ability, able to interact with others and make decisions on her own, and has been rec eiving services from Eden for 20 years. XiaoMei needs more obvious support in interpersonal and social skills and often shows emotional difficulty calming down when facing frustration, which affects her and her family's quality of life. However, through th e support of the service center, she has learned to express her emotions more appropriately.

XiaoMei lives with her 68 year old mother and relies heavily on her for daily living. Other family members live in different places, making it difficult for them to provide immediate support. As the aging progresses the family faces the challenge of double aging , especially when the mother is in poor health and no one in the family can take care of XiaoMei . Th is has become a major problem for the family.

XiaoMei 's mother also considered future care arrangements, such as Full time Nursing Centers, but XiaoMei was unwilling to accept any of them. Her mother was deeply helpless and felt that if she could no longer take care of XiaoMei , she would be faced with insurmou ntable problems.

XiaoMei 's story highlights the urgent need for long term care arrangements for the disabled and their family caregivers, and Eden Social Welfare Foundation's long term comm itment to supporting the physically and mentally disabled and their families in caring for their quality of life.