This study is to discuss the services of public ¡§Sheng Mu¡¨ Time Bank in Taiwan. Time Bank was developed as a way of providing non-medical services for older people ¡V helping them to stay in the own homes, keep hospital appointments and stay healthy. Unlike traditional services of volunteers, Time Bank enables volunteers to earn and pay time credits for giving and receiving non-medical services.That is to say, Time Bank is a community plan for mutual contribution. Everyone can give and everyone can get. ¡§Sheng Mu¡¨ Time Bank was established by Taiwan governmental instituation in 1998. Since ¡§Sheng Mu¡¨ Time Bank has over ten years of experience in promoting this program, there must be some difficults and problems during promoting process.Thus, the first purpose of this study is to understand what Time Bank is and how it works. Besides, this study is to understand how do managers of volunteers and volunteers think about Time Bank. Finally, this study is to find out the difficults and problems in promoting this program.

There has been growing concern over how state and federal governments can support the increasing population of aging Americans and their need for long-term care. Current insurance funding models cover acute hospitalization and skilled care only, leaving unskilled care needs and homemaker services at the full expense of those in need. Time banking allows individuals to exchange or barter time for goods or services without monetary payment. There is insufficient evidence to determine if members believe time banks to be a viable alternative to support aging-in-place care needs. This phenomenological study explored time banking as a potential vehicle for nonskilled health care support to defray health care costs as one ages. Ostrom's co-production theory provided the theoretical foundation for the research questions, which examined the participants' lived experiences with the role time banks played in their decision to age in place. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 10 Southern California time bank participants, age 50 years or older. Using a Moustakas-modified van Kaam method and a priori coding emergent themes were extracted. Study findings illustrated that time bank participation did support aspects of nonskilled health care needs and provided members with confident options for aging in place. Study findings also indicated a need for continued collaborations between professional and managerial staff in public agencies, including California's Health and Human Services Agency and time bank users in their communities. Reducing health care costs for taxpayers in any government-funded health insurance model benefits positive social change, and nonskilled health care provider time bank initiatives may be a sustainable alternative for those wishing to age in place.