In response to the serious shortage of nursing care workers, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare will step up efforts to acquire nursing care personnel in Southeast Asia next fiscal year. The government will subsidize part of the expenses incurred by Japanese nursing care providers in their local recruitment activities and will begin creating nursing care education programs in Indonesia. As the aging population continues to grow, the number of elderly people requiring nursing care will increase, so it has been decided that a strategic approach is needed to accept foreign human resources. According to the Immigration Services Agency of Japan, the number of foreigners who entered the country with “specific skills” residence status to work in the nursing care industry was 28,400 as of the end of 2023, just over 50% of the government’s target. The background to this is that as the population ages, especially in developed countries, there is an international competition to secure welfare workers. One of the measures the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare is taking to strengthen its recruitment efforts is to provide subsidies for travel expenses to corporations that operate special nursing homes for the elderly and vocational schools that train care workers. The funds will be used to visit Japanese language schools and “dispatch agencies” in Southeast Asian countries, such as Vietnam and Myanmar, to hold information sessions to inform young people studying or training there about the appeal and working conditions in the Japanese nursing care field, as well as to cover the costs of conducting recruitment activities such as interviews. The total subsidy amount per corporation from the national and prefectural governments is 1 million yen. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare expects up to 100 businesses to participate next year. Related expenses have been included in this year’s supplementary budget proposal. According to a 2011 survey by the Care Worker Stability Center, a public interest incorporated foundation based in Tokyo, 60% of care facilities, including special nursing homes, complained of a shortage of staff, but only 10% were accepting foreign workers. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare states that it “wants to support the first step in recruiting foreign talent” (Welfare Human Resources Securing Measures Office). In addition, Indonesia, which is keen to send its personnel overseas, will develop an educational program for nursing care techniques called “KAIGO” over a three-year period starting next fiscal year. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Japan International Cooperation Agency are preparing to send a total of three experts on Japan’s nursing care insurance system and elderly care. KAIGO is aimed at young people studying at local public nursing schools, and also trains supervising instructors. Countries such as Germany have already begun taking steps in Indonesia to secure human resources. Care workers from overseas can continue working in Japan if they pass the certification exam for care workers. Tsukada Noriko, a professor of social gerontology at Nihon University, said, “The government should provide financial support for obtaining qualifications and put effort into creating comfortable workplaces. “We need to improve working conditions, such as by raising wages, and make the industry more attractive to foreigners.” ◆ Shortage of nursing care staff: Next year, approximately one in five of Japan’s total population will be over 75 years old, and the need for nursing care will increase rapidly. There will be approximately 2.15 million care workers in fiscal 2022, but it is estimated that there will be a shortage of approximately 250,000 in fiscal 2026 and approximately 570,000 in fiscal 2040. [Yomiuri Shimbun] 2024/12/16 (Mon) 5:01.
>>9 This is because the ice age is escaping. They don’t seem to realize that this is the price we’ve been paying for forcing this on us during the ice age.
Even if you call them, they’ll probably just run away. I know they’re giving foreigners preferential treatment in terms of salaries and subsidies, but if they’re going to do that, they should just pay them on top of their current salaries.
I wish they would at least change the restraint rules to the same as hospitals.
Mitts, four-point fences, dementia coveralls, wheelchair safety belts ↑Just allowing the use of these four items would greatly reduce the burden on the field.
>>31 Full-time employees (working variable shifts including night shifts) earn 3.5-4.5 million yen. After working for 3 years and getting a national certification as a care worker, you might earn more than 4 million yen. I think it’s on the low side of the low-level jobs.
>>31 According to an older woman I know who is a caregiver, young male caregivers quit their jobs when they get married. The pay is so low that unless both partners work (and the wife is a full-time employee), they can’t support the family.
>>31 If you make it more expensive, of course more people will come. Instead of giving various subsidies to foreigners, I think they should use the subsidies for this.
This can be solved by a system of euthanasia. The reason they don’t do it is because of the vested interests of the nursing care industry among Diet members.
>>41 If we say “let’s die with dignity because today is our day to die,” everyone will be scared. If the person’s healthy life expectancy has ended or they can no longer live independently, they should just think of it as the end of their life and not get active medical treatment or get vaccinated against pneumonia or influenza. I think it would be better to just give them pain relief, and if they can’t eat anymore, they should just stop eating and let them die naturally.
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