Democratic Progressive Party New Taipei mayoral candidate Su Chiao-hui has made long-term care the central theme of her campaign — a boon for elderly residents, their families and frontline care workers, and a move that has pushed the issues of long-term care funding and staffing into the open.

• Su Chiao-hui has set up a long-term care industry support group, targeting the care needs of the more than 820,000 elderly residents in New Taipei.
• She has pledged additional allowances for night-time, emergency and difficult care work, along with subsidies for care workers to pursue further training and academic degrees.
• Her policy platform includes simplifying the administrative burden on institutions, providing home care services and assistive devices as a complete package after hospital discharge, and introducing AI-assisted care and a rent-instead-of-buy platform.
• The national long-term care budget has risen steadily from NT$5 billion in 2017 to NT$115.3 billion, with substantial growth in the number of service sites and workers.
• Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Lu Chien-te and several civil-society long-term care groups appeared at the event in support, amounting to an endorsement of her campaign.

Outlook: Long-term care looks set to become a major battleground in the New Taipei mayoral race, with all camps expected to roll out increasingly generous care allowances and staffing policies in the months ahead.