Getting support to senior citizens who live alone can be tough, especially since the government is uncertain as to how many there are around Taiwan.
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00:00On the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Ms. Yang leads her walking club for senior citizens in a series of exercises.
00:06Many here are among the tens of thousands of older Taiwanese adults who are known to live alone.
00:11As the country's population ages, the number of these seniors living by themselves grows.
00:16And it's become a social problem, as some may die in their home without anyone noticing for some time.
00:21Ms. Yang keeps tabs on her club members to make sure this doesn't happen to them.
00:31But not all have someone like Ms. Yang looking out for them.
00:35And the scope of the problem is hard to gauge.
00:37Different government agencies have different estimates of how many older adults are out there by themselves.
00:42The health ministry says there are about 390,000.
00:46But the interior ministry says around 670,000.
00:50Getting a handle on the local situation is something even some local community leaders have trouble with.
01:01The health ministry says its approach gives a more accurate picture,
01:05based on what it calls real-world data rather than official household registries.
01:10Still, it encourages local officials to make their own assessments.
01:31Taiwan has close to 5,000 centers prepared to help with senior citizens' welfare.
01:35But making sure they're set up where they're needed,
01:37and that those who need help actually get it, can still be a challenge.
01:41Eason Pan and John Van Triest for Taiwan Plus.