Taiwan Immigrants' Global News Network-Great! The Taipei City Department of Labor launches the "Safe Care Program" to help migrant workers enter Taiwan’s long-term care industry

If there are elders or disabled members in the family to take care of, foreign caregivers are usually one of the first options, but how to choose is a problem. To improve the nursing skills of care workers, the Taipei City Department of Labor (DOL, 台北市勞動局) has implemented the "Relief Support Program for Families Hiring Migrant Workers" (聘僱移工家庭安心支持計畫). This year, five online courses on medication safety, nutrition and meal preparation, emotional communication, care skills and life recovery are specially planned to help reduce stress and conflict.

The Taipei City Government assists foreign caregivers to invest in Taiwanese long-term care. Photo/Provided by the Taipei City Foreign and Disabled Labor Office

The DOL stated that as of the end of July 2021, there were 39,953 family care foreign workers in Taipei City, which is the highest number in Taiwan and therefore, the DOL is offering these online courses. The first course focuses on "Medicine Safety". In addition to introducing the principles of drug treatment and the commonly used drugs for disabled elders, it also guides students to know the consequences of taking the wrong drug and aims at the migrant workers’ language barrier problem and not being able to read Chinese characters. To help them completely understand and properly interpret the important information, they are told to follow the "4 to 3 attention" formula: take the correct medicine, take them at the right time, take them the right way, and store the medicines properly.

The Taipei City Government has introduced nursing courses to alleviate the pressure and conflicts of migrant workers. Photo/Provided by the Taipei City Department of Labor

In addition, the DOL added that Taipei City’s families who are hiring migrant care workers can rest assured and support the specially planned five online classes on "medicine safety", "nutrition preparation", "emotional communication", "care skills", and "life recovery". Both employers and migrant workers are invited to learn online together to reduce the pressure and conflict of caregiving. In addition to paying attention to labor conditions, migrant services should also be extended to the families served by migrant workers and introduce resources to assist families to relieve the pressure on both sides.