Increasing Elderly Population Outpaces Care Workforce
Remote Consultations Replace Home Visits...Lowering Barriers for Foreign Workers
The Japanese government is set to ease regulations to allow remote care and nursing for the elderly. This is because the number of elderly people has exceeded the level that care workers can manage face-to-face. The aim is to temporarily address the urgent shortage of personnel by introducing information and communication technology (ICT).
On the 18th, Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) reported that the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare plans to relax regulations to enable online consultations between care managers, who are nursing care workers, and users. For elderly people who do not require face-to-face assistance from care workers, the issue will be resolved through online consultations.
This is due to the severe shortage of care workers in Japan. According to estimates by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the number of elderly people in Japan will increase from 2.43 million in 2025 to 2.8 million in 2040. However, the caregiving workforce is severely insufficient. Statistics indicate that by 2025, there will be a shortage of 280,000 workers, and by 2040, a shortage of 650,000 workers is expected.
A representative of a nursing service company in Tokyo told Nikkei, "Even when applying for nursing services, many people cannot be matched with a caregiver for about 2 to 3 months," adding, "We are currently not accepting new applications for about two months." The local government agencies responsible for connecting elderly people with caregiving personnel are also currently not accepting new registrations nationwide.
In response, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has decided to implement various regulatory relaxations, including remote nursing services and revisions to nursing service fees. First, the current system requiring care workers to have face-to-face consultations with users at least once a month will be changed. With the consent of the user and related parties such as the primary care physician, this can be replaced by an online consultation once a month. However, a home visit must be conducted at least once every two months.
Remote work will also be allowed for caregiving tasks that do not require on-site visits. This will include tasks such as care workers preparing elderly care plans and nutritionists preparing meal plans.
Improvements in treatment will also be made. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has allowed the number of care cases one care worker can handle to increase from the current 44 to 49, on the condition of utilizing ICT, enabling higher compensation.
Additionally, the staffing standards for elderly nursing homes will be relaxed. The current standard requiring at least one care worker per three elderly people will be lowered to 0.9 care workers if the facility introduces ICT devices. For a facility with 10 staff members, which could previously care for 30 users, it will now be able to accommodate up to 33 users.
Employment regulations for foreign workers will also be reviewed. Under the current system, foreigners must work for more than six months to be recognized as full-time staff, but from this year, they can be hired as full-time employees from the start, just like Japanese staff.
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has secured an additional budget for 2023 to cover a wage increase equivalent to 6,000 yen (approximately 54,300 won) per month. In Japan, under the Long-Term Care Insurance system, the government determines the fees paid to nursing care providers. These fees can be revised every three years, and a 1.59% increase has been announced for this year.
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