Foreign Women Home Helpers Supporting Japan’s Welfare Community

Social Welfare Corporation, Silver Wing

“How was it?” says MOTOYAMA Roselle, a Philippino woman working as a home helper at a special Tokyo nursing home for the elderly called “Silver Wing” as she talks cheerfully to an elderly woman she is bathing. Philippino women are known for their caring nursing skills and have subsequently become vital laborers in Japan’s welfare nursing industry.

Japan faces an urgent need to cover growing labor shortages in a society that is graying at an alarming rate. The Philippines, in contrast, has a strong record of sending its own laborers to work as caregivers in foreign countries, and with the stable pay offered by many positions, it is considered a popular occupation. When both governments realized their needs could be met, Japan signed an agreement starting with the Philippines to accept Philippino caregivers into Japan.

There are thought to be more than 200 Philippino residents working in welfare/nursing communities in metropolitan Tokyo. Three Philippino women, MOTOYAMA Roselle, MIYASHITA Eileen and Cielo NACPIL work at Silver Wing, all of whom have Home Helper Grade 2 certificates and who are married to Japanese men and raising families in Japan.

“It is a tiring job, but it’s fun!” says Roselle, who has lived in Japan for 12 years. She came to Japan as a dancer at first. When she was dancing for shows at night, the pace of her life was different from that of her husband, and she used to regularly get worn out, both physically and mentally. It was then that her Philippino friend at her workplace told her about home helper jobs. She subsequently decided to study for the certificate.

After attending school and studying for four months, she obtained her certificate. She never has a problem in everyday conversation, although she says, “Learning kanji is still hard.” She was dispatched to Silver Wing right away, and has now been working there for one year. Philippinos are known to live in big families. Roselle says, “Those elderly people are like my own grandmothers and grandfathers.”

Roselle sings Japanese children’s songs from time to time with the elderly people. Likable and charming, she is very popular at Silver Wing. Some elderly users of the day service call up in advance to make sure she is there. When they find she is not, they are often disappointed and complain in a good-natured manner.

Eileen also says that elderly people are “like my own family.” The main job of the home helpers is to assist the elderly to take baths. There are three types of bathing services. This includes one where comparatively healthy elderly people are washed, one called “chair bathing” for users who have difficulty walking, and “bed bathing” for handicapped people.

These home helpers assist 30 to 40 elderly people to bath from nine in the morning until four in the afternoon. Bathing is seemingly harder work than helping people eat or go to the toilet. Cielo never misses applying cold pads when she goes to bed at the end of the day, and her tenontothecitis is chronic. Nevertheless, to make her job more stable, Cielo hopes to study more and acquire Home Helper certificate Grade 1 and gain more experience in the field.

Silver Wing provides services such as long stays, day services (where facilities are used during daytime only), short stays and emergency stays. With a variety of recreational activities such as music concerts and games, the number of users is high.

Some elderly have difficult moods. The staff say that there are about one in 10 people who get mad and hysterical to prevent being bathed. However, the professional home helpers have good team work skills and react with kindness to elderly people experiencing stress. Roselle says, “The job is hard and not so highly paid, but considering the stability it brings to life, this is much better. I would not like to go back to my former night job.”

All three Philippine women who work at Silver Wing think alike when they say, “the home helper’s job gives an orderly structure to our lives, and a good amount of communication with the family. It is good work.” SEKIGUCHI Yukari, the vice manager of Silver Wing comments appreciatively, “Those women have great communication skills with the Japanese staff and they really work hard.”

Now, at a time when supply and demand of workers is not well balanced, considering the lack of Japan’s welfare caregivers, it is inevitable that more Philippinos will be hired to work in Japan’s welfare industry in future. Women like Roselle are pioneers in their field and model case studies that demonstrate how the home help services provided by foreign caregivers can work.

Social Welfare Corporation, Silver Wing
www.silver-w.jp/

Back to List Page