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must take the promotion of health intervention into consideration (instead of merely financial assistance) in order to prolong their independence in carrying out daily living activities. Based on low-income elderly status, perceived needs of health promotion and the effectiveness of a health promotion program, several recommendations can be made to improve independence and satisfy the needs of low-income elderly. 1. Raise public and policymaker awareness of the likelihood that low-income elderly living alone may become helpless in their homes, and promote activism within a community. Thus, anti-poverty policies in Taiwan should not be focused only upon financial assistance, but should integrate public and private, and formal and informal resources, especially providing home-based personnel services in order to prolong independency. 2. In this study, personal contact with trained health workers has been found to satisfy most of the perceived needs for health promotion services. Home workers, trained volunteers, neighbors or family members should be involved in health promotion intervention in order to decrease the social isolation of the low-income elderly.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author thank the Taipei Welfare Department for funding and assisting this program. Special thanks to all low-income workers and elderly for participating in this study.
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