The government will make it easier for those in need to hire foreign caregivers, so that everybody in need, regardless of their age, illness or financial situation, would be taken care of, Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said on Thursday.
Chen pledged to create simpler pathways for families seeking to hire a foreign caregiver and has already instructed agencies to review the regulations, Cabinet spokesman Lin Tze-luen (林子倫) told a news conference after the weekly Cabinet meeting.
The government would not only review the functionality assessment, called the Barthel Index, but would also develop more flexible methods to assess the status of those in need, Lin quoted Chen as saying.
Photo: Taipei Times
Currently, elderly and severely ill Taiwanese must be assessed under the Barthel Index to be eligible to hire a foreign caregiver, Lin said.
Approval to employ a foreign caregiver is dependent on the activities of daily living (ADL) score the index shows, he said.
Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) said that the government does not plan to completely abandon the Barthel Index, but to combine it with other indices and ensure adjustments are made when people fail to meet the Barthel threshold.
Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元) said that the Barthel Index assesses functional independence, but some people who need care do not meet its standards.
Some people with dementia do not pass the evaluation because they are able to follow some instructions, but if they were to go out alone, they could easily get lost, Hsueh said.
In such a case, a diagnosis from a psychiatrist or an assessment using the Clinical Dementia Rating could be used to ascertain whether they are eligible to hire a foreign caregiver, he said.
Department of Long-Term Care head Chu Chien-fang (祝健芳) said that Hsueh and Minister of Labor Hsu Ming-chun (許銘春) are to meet with advocacy groups and representatives of patients on Sept. 12.
New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, on Wednesday pledged that, if he wins next year’s election, he would revoke regulations requiring elderly people seeking to hire a foreign caregiver to be assessed.
Hou said he would remove the requirement for people older than 80, as well as for those aged 70 to 79 who have a severe illnesses, including cancer that has advanced beyond stage 1.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS