This year also marks the 20th anniversary of the ICF and Assistive Technology Research Center, a university-level research center of National Yang Ming University of Transportation, helping to promote assistive device services for people with physical and mental disabilities, and the establishment of the Multifunctional Assistive Device Resource Integration and Promotion Center commissioned by the central government. At the National Liaison Meeting on Nov. 26, the Deputy Director of the Social and Family Affairs Department of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Mei-Mei Chang, presented a certificate of appreciation to the team led by the Director of ICF, Shu-Ching Li, for their contribution to the development of assistive technology services in China over the past 20 years.
In her acceptance speech, Ms. Lee talked about the 20 years of her life spent in running the Center and building the national assistive device service system, and cited the following five major achievements of the Center in the past 20 years.
First of all, the center introduced the core concept of the international assistive devices classification standard - ISO 9999 at the early stage of the development of the assistive devices service system in China. It is the first achievement of the Center to shape the development of assistive services in China from a broad perspective.
Furthermore, since 2005, the team of the Center has been commissioned to build the "Aids Resource Portal" in Taiwan, which integrates all the information on aids in the fields of industry, government, academia, research, and medicine, and is a valuable and leading platform of aids information in the world. This is the second major achievement of the Center.
In addition, with the joint efforts of all of us, the new system of ICF for the protection of the rights of the physically and mentally disabled was launched in 2012, making "assistive devices services" a statutory service for the physically and mentally disabled in China. As a WHO observer in 2019, Director Li was pleased that our country has a state-of-the-art system of assistive devices that is proud of the world. Helping to plan and promote a new system of assistive services based on professional understanding and meeting needs is the third major achievement of the Center.
The key to the success of the auxiliary service is not only the training of human resources and the professional quality management of the auxiliary service centers, but also the experience of our country over the years shows that strengthening the support function of county and municipal governments through evaluation indicators and guiding the integration of services between county and municipal governments and auxiliary service centers, instead of focusing only on the auxiliary service centers, is a pragmatic and highly effective approach, which is also a model worthy of international promotion. The fourth major achievement of the Center is to establish evaluation indicators that effectively promote the success of the auxiliary aid services in Taiwan.
Lastly, the ICF and Assistive Technology Research Center of National Yang Ming University of Transportation has been hosting the Assistive Devices and Long-term Care Exhibition since 2016, which is an international professional exhibition with more than 100,000 visitors for three consecutive years. Among the many functions of this exhibition, it provides a positive learning platform for assistive technology professionals to learn about the latest international assistive technology development, and through a more comprehensive understanding of the products and manufacturers, it will be conducive to the improvement of professional services. The fifth major achievement of the center is to successfully link the three elements of assistive technology development: professionals, industry and products.
Director Lee said that there are still many goals to be developed in the future, which need to be improved step by step in a competitive manner.
First of all, 2022 will be a new era for our country's auxiliary aids services, including the draft amendment of the benchmark table of auxiliary aids for the physically and mentally disabled, which has been notified through the efforts of the Social Welfare Department and is scheduled to be officially implemented on September 1 next year. It is expected that the new system of auxiliary aids will be implemented smoothly next year, including the continued support of county and municipal governments and the smooth transformation of auxiliary aids centers, so as to successfully move to the next stage.
In addition, for the successful implementation of the new system of aids for the mentally and physically disabled and Long Term Care 2.0, the participation of inter-ministerial units is very important, including the effective performance of the functional roles of each ministry and the positive interaction and cooperation between ministries.
Finally, the current situation shows that the volume of long-term care assessment services in most county and city auxiliary care centers has increased significantly, which indicates the inevitable trend of further integration of mental and physical disabilities and long-term care services in the social welfare system, including the integration of auxiliary care center audits by the central authorities.
Under the leadership of Director Li, the Multifunctional Assistive Devices Resource Integration and Promotion Center has assisted the Ministry of Health and Welfare in the vertical and parallel coordination of various units for 20 years, and has worked hard to promote the policy of assistive device services, the training of assistive device professionals, and the development of the industrial market. We look forward to your continued support and to working together for a better and more prosperous future!