NeedleThe rental scheme that started in July: key points
How do you apply for Taiwan's long-term care smart assistive device subsidy? Since 1 July 2026 the Ministry of Health and Welfare has run a full-rental scheme for smart assistive devices and added a "second group" of benefits: up to NT$60,000 every three years, of which up to NT$20,000 covers home accessibility improvements. The existing traditional device group remains at NT$40,000 every three years, and applicants choose one of the two. Moving to rental is meant to ease the burden of a one-off purchase and let devices be reused.
Applicants need long-term care needs at level 2 or above, and a Class A assistive device assessor must confirm suitability and eligibility and issue an assessment report. The first batch approved for benefits covers 17 products, which can be looked up in the ministry's long-term care assistive device product database; questions can go to the 1966 long-term care hotline or to local long-term care management centers. Subsidized items, amounts and eligibility are subject to the Ministry of Health and Welfare's latest announcements.
The scheme is part of Long-term Care 3.0. The Executive Yuan says the overall Long-term Care 3.0 budget has risen to NT$115.3 billion, that nearly 400,000 people in Taiwan live with dementia, and that wearables, cameras and radar should be combined with care services to ease the load on caregivers.
Where wandering-prevention devices fit
Smart assistive devices fall into five categories: transfer, mobility, bathing and toileting, home care beds, and safety monitoring. Wandering-prevention products belong to safety monitoring; what they share is that they sense, record and report information through a phone or tablet so family members or caregivers can follow how an older person is doing. Media reports say the first batch includes a wandering-prevention smart insole with built-in location tracking, which older people are less likely to take off than a watch-style device.
Wandering is a major concern in dementia care. Media reports citing the National Police Agency put dementia-related wandering at about 34.26% of missing older adults, the largest share. For families caring at home, renting a wandering-prevention device with the subsidy can shorten the search if someone goes missing outdoors; which products actually apply still depends on the assessment and the product database.
How personal device subsidies and facility-grade positioning divide the work
The subsidy is for individuals: an older person is assessed and rents a device, and the device follows the person. Long-term care facilities face a different situation. Dozens of residents move around the same site, and on-duty staff need an alert as soon as a resident approaches an exit or a high-risk area, with the whole site visible on one screen. That need is handled by a facility-grade positioning system: indoor positioning anchors combined with geofencing, zone alerts and on-duty notifications, deployed and managed centrally by the facility.
The two complement rather than exclude each other: on-site activity is covered by the facility-grade system, and outings and the trip home are covered by the personal device. If a resident already rents a personal device through the subsidy, a facility adopting an on-site system can agree on who watches each information stream and how they hand over, so on-duty staff are not cross-checking two screens. For a comparison of the two families, see our article "Wandering prevention in long-term care: personal assistive devices and facility-grade positioning systems".
Four checks before a facility adopts a system
The new subsidy has made families more aware of wandering prevention, and facilities are often asked what they do on site. Before adopting facility-grade positioning, confirm four things: whether coverage includes exits, stairwells and courtyards with a continuous indoor/outdoor handover; whether alert rules can set individual zones and time periods for each resident; whether viewing permissions and retention periods for location data are documented in writing; and whether the alert-handling workflow is written into on-duty protocols.
Positioning technology is a management tool and does not replace staffed care or emergency response procedures. Only when all four checks have answers will the system become part of daily operations.
Next step: request a site assessment
If your facility is planning on-site wandering prevention or staff and resident positioning, start by mapping exits and residents' daily routes, then request a site assessment through the contact form on our website. The adoption team will explain feasible anchor placement, alert-rule design and how to integrate with on-duty workflows, and help the facility decide the scope; costs and installation scope are explained during the assessment.
Frequently asked questions
How much does the smart assistive device subsidy cover?
The new second benefit group is capped at NT$60,000 every three years, of which up to NT$20,000 goes to home accessibility improvements; the traditional device group stays at NT$40,000 every three years, and applicants choose one of the two. Actual amounts are subject to the Ministry of Health and Welfare's latest announcements.
Can wandering-prevention insoles or trackers be rented with the subsidy?
Smart assistive devices fall into five categories (transfer, mobility, bathing and toileting, home care beds, and safety monitoring), and wandering-prevention products belong to safety monitoring. Whether an individual product has been approved for benefits can be checked in the ministry's long-term care assistive device product database, or through the 1966 long-term care hotline and local long-term care management centers.
Can a long-term care facility use this subsidy to build an on-site positioning system?
The subsidy is for individuals with long-term care needs, who rent devices after an assessment. A facility-grade positioning system covers the whole site and is deployed and managed centrally by the facility, and is currently mainly planned by facilities themselves. Scope is subject to the Ministry of Health and Welfare's latest announcements.
What is the application process?
First confirm a long-term care needs level of 2 or above; a Class A assistive device assessor then visits, assesses and issues a report, after which approved products can be rented from contracted providers. The 1966 long-term care hotline can answer questions.
Sources
- Ministry of Health and Welfare | Full-rental scheme for long-term care smart assistive devices starts in July; first 17 products approved for benefits
- Ministry of Health and Welfare | Q&A on assistive device and home accessibility rules effective 1 July 2026
- Executive Yuan | Premier visits a dementia group home; Long-term Care 3.0 budget of NT$115.3 billion
- TVBS Health 2.0 | Long-term Care 3.0 smart assistive devices and wandering-prevention insoles
- UDN Health | Share of dementia-related wandering among missing older adults
Related product
Indoor/outdoor positioning care-tracking system
Needle care tracking combines outdoor satellite positioning with indoor wireless positioning to help nursing homes, day-care centers and nursing facilities keep track of residents, with wandering-risk and high-risk zone alerts configured to site rules.
Further reading
Wandering prevention in long-term care: personal assistive devices and facility-grade positioning systems
A roundup of the two approach families for wandering prevention in long-term care facilities — personal GPS assistive devices and facility-grade positioning systems — with a selection checklist.
Hospital equipment tracking: choosing UWB, BLE or RFID for medical asset tracking
Wheelchairs, infusion pumps and mobile devices often go missing inside a hospital. A summary of what hospital equipment tracking is used for, how UWB, BLE, RFID and Wi-Fi differ in accuracy, and what to check before deployment.
How to choose an indoor positioning technology? UWB, BLE, RFID and anchor-based approaches
Compares common indoor positioning technologies by accuracy, deployment cost, power consumption and operations, and explains the selection considerations for long-term care settings.