• However, the formation of an equitable cradle-to-grave care economy in Malaysia is undermined by several factors, including: a heavy reliance on informal care with limited support for caregivers; an absence of social care from the country’s social protection framework; a lack of social care services that meet preferences; inadequate legislation governing the care economy and workforce; and the g. [...] Professionalising social care work means regulating and registering social care workers, raising and streamlining formal qualifications, providing opportunities for training, and outlining the terms and conditions of social care work clearly under the Skills Development Department (JPK) in the Department of Social Welfare (JKM).51 This would go a long way towards valuing social care work and recog. [...] The latest Health White Paper offers key opportunities for such a move as it outlines a transition towards “person-centred care and bringing care nearer to the community” and moving services like transitional care out of the hospital to the community level.81 This offers the opportunity to move beyond medically-oriented care to include social care services required beyond the point of illness. [...] At the baseline, legislations to professionalise social care work must include the following components, including: (1) standardising and improving education and training to grow the skills needed for a qualified care workforce, (2) outlining the terms and conditions of social care work, (3) professionalising care workers in line with the status of professional workers i.e. [...] This includes: the Ministry of Economy to recognise and value the contribution of care to national GDP and facilitate the growth of an industry of social care services; Ministry of Human Resources to oversee the skills training and employment conditions of social care workers; Ministry of Health to better integrate the health and social care towards playing a preventative health role; and Ministry.
- Pages
- 40
- Published in
- Malaysia
