Nursing care in Japan

The Long-term Care Insurance System was initiated in April 2000 so that people who need assistance in daily life can receive sufficient support from all aspects of society. The nursing service for the elderly in Japan has developed and reached the highest level in the world. This is good opportunity to learn nursing care in Japan and experience high level practice.

1. System for fulfilled senior life

Japan has entered aging society in 1970's. Since then, the government has focused on building eldercare systems and enforced its long-term care insurance system since 2000, the earliest in Asia.

42 kinds of nursing services vary from home care, day care, and residential care. They are offered depending on needs and assistance levels, such as nursing homes for the people who have dementia.

2. Skilled human resource

Certified Care Worker is a national qualification in the area of nursing care set under the Certified Social Worker and Certified Care Worker Act, which is enacted on May 26, 1987. The number of certified care workers has been marked more than 1.62 millions.

The term "certified care worker" as used in this Act means a person with expert skills and knowledge and uses the appellation "certified care worker" to engage in the business of providing care for a person with physical disabilities or mental disorder and intellectual disabilities that make it difficult to lead a normal life, and providing instructions on caregiving to the person and the person's caregiver. (Certified Social Worker and Certified Care Worker Act) Nursing care has been added in working status for resident visa in September, 2019 and acknowledged as highly-skilled foreign professionals.