The Taipei City Government has launched a training program for migrant workers employed as domestic caregivers, after nearly 97 percent of them reported that they need instruction on caregiving skills.
According to a study by Chinese Culture University associate professor of social welfare Chen Cheng-fen (陳正芬), which used data from last year, 96.9 percent of migrant workers doing such work are in need of guidance in caregiving, with the language barrier, a lack of caregiving and food preparation skills being the three major problems they face.
According to the study, 94.3 percent said they need instruction on how to care for people with dementia.
The Taiwan Association of Family Caregivers on Saturday said that nearly 48 percent of the city’s families that need long-term care services employ migrant workers as caregivers.
However, migrant workers and employers might have strained relations if they have different ideas about caregiving, it said.
The city’s Foreign and Disabled Labor Office has worked with the Jian Shun Nursing Center to launch the program to support families employing migrant workers, including “three mandatory lessons” for employers and workers involved in long-term care.
The lessons include a four-hour session on caregiving skill instruction, with professional nurses, nutritionists, occupational or physical therapists, or senior caregivers with interpreters visiting households to evaluate the migrant workers’ skills and help them solve problems, the association said.
The other two sessions, three hours each, would introduce employers to government resources for those who need long-term care, including a monthly service subsidy of up to NT$10,854, and train caregivers on Taiwan’s food culture and the dietary needs of different patients, it said.
The experts would also help employers and caregivers draw up weekly work plans in a bid to minimize the gap in their expectations from caregiving, it added.
To encourage families in need to join the sessions, the organizers are offering temporary care services, it added.
Taipei Department of Labor Director Chen Hsin-yu (陳信瑜) said the city government’s support program aims to assist families preparing for long-term care, evaluate caregivers’ workload and offer timely help before the employer-worker relations become frayed.
Through the training sessions, it also hopes to promote communication between employers and migrant workers, and improve their quality of life, she said.
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