The three ethnic groups can now recruit foreign caretakers without undergoing Barthel Index evaluation, according to the MOHW

On September 14, Premier Chen Chien-jen attended the Ministry of Health and Welfare's report. The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Labor invited medical and long-term care experts and non-governmental organizations to a joint meeting (放寬聘僱外籍家庭看護工免評多元管道諮詢會議) and decided to expand the relaxation to use long-term care services for more than six months. Those diagnosed by a specialist with dementia assessment scale mild or above, physical disabilities and all three major categories, including rare diseases, will benefit 600,000 people and are expected to be implemented with immediate effect.

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The three ethnic groups can now recruit foreign caretakers without undergoing Barthel Index evaluation, according to the MOHW.Photo reproduced from the Executive Yuan Facebook

The first category of groups to receive a relaxation is those who have utilized care services for more than six months following the approval of long-term care services, according to the Minister of Social and Family Affairs Administration, MOHW. Second, those who have been given a CDR=1 or above and have been clinically determined by a neurologist or psychiatrist to have mild or above moderate dementia. Thirdly, the original exclusion criteria for certain physical and mental impairments with severe levels or above are loosened to mild dementia, physical impairments and rare diseases are no longer restricted to symptoms, and two new categories are added, including loss of respiratory organ dysfunction to a severe level or above and swallowing dysfunction to a moderate or greater level.

The Barthel Index, which was once employed as a technique of evaluation, had drawbacks, the deputy superintendent (劉燦宏) of Shuang-Ho Hospital noted, and it was cumbersome for families to have to send the patients to the hospital for evaluation. Numerous applications for foreign caregivers can be made without issue when the exemption standards are loosened.