TMU College of Nursing receives international dementia research grant for its iSupport Project

Source: College of Nursing

Published on 2021-07-26

The iSupport Project a collaboration among TMU’s School of Gerontology Health Management of the College of Nursing, Flinders University and University of Wollongong in Australia.


In 2021, the project successfully won the research grant sponsored by the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations (澳中基金會).

This iSupport project mainly constructed the Taiwan version of the online teaching and support platform for dementia caregivers. The research conducted and promoted comparative studies in Australia, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and Macau. The results of this study estimated about 11 million dementia patients in the regions (approximately 22% of dementia patients worldwide) and benefitted both dementia patients and their caregivers.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the pace of technological and medical care reforms. And the Project emphasized that under the impact of the pandemic, the physical and mental health of family caregivers of dementia patients should not be ignored. Caregivers often overlook their personal self-care, hence experiencing physical, psychological and financial stress. The iSupport online learning platform is therefore constructed to provide caregivers with the knowledge and skills needed throughout the home care process. Through a series of learning units, caregivers can learn about what dementia is, its impact on people, and how caregivers can better take care of themselves and their patients.

Professor Chia-Chi Chang (張佳琪), Principal Investigator for Taiwan and Associate Professor Fang Liu (劉芳) from the School of Gerontology Health Management and Dr. Chaur-Jong Hu (胡朝榮), Director of the Dementia Center of Shuang-Ho Hospital co-implement the project.

The Research Team

This project is a regional comparative study conducted in collaboration with Professor Lily Xiao (蕭麗麗) from Flinders University in Australia and Professor Hui Chen Rita Chang (張惠甄) from University of Wollongong in Australia. Professor Chia-Chi Chang (張佳琪) is the Principal Investigator for Taiwan and co-executed the project with Associate Professor Fang Liu (劉芳) from the School of Gerontology Health Management and Dr Chaur-Jong Hu (胡朝榮), Director of the Dementia Center of Shuang-Ho Hospital.

Professor Lily Xiao (蕭麗麗) from Flinders University in Australia (left) and Professor Hui Chen Rita Chang (張惠甄) from the University of Wollongong in Australia (right).