Aichi Prefecture will create multilingual pamphlets in fiscal 2020 to encourage its growing number of elderly foreign residents to use Japan’s caregiving services.

“We would like elderly foreign residents to know the system and receive the service,” a prefectural government official said.

The prefecture will create 5,000 pamphlets in six languages, including Portuguese and Chinese, that explain the nursing care insurance service and how to apply.

Another type of pamphlet, also with 5,000 copies in six languages, will be distributed to business operators and support groups that provide caregiving services to elderly foreigners.

The pamphlet will, for example, urge caregivers to be careful about cultural differences.

According to the prefecture, one care service provider mistakenly thought an elderly Chinese woman had dementia because she put tea leaves in her cup and drank the beverage instead of first placing the leaves in a teapot, which is the norm in Japan.

The population of foreign residents in the central Japan prefecture was about 273,000 at the end of June 2019, trailing only Tokyo.

Among the foreigners living in Aichi Prefecture, about 22,000 were 60 years old or older and 14,600 were at least 65.

“The number of aging foreign residents is increasing, but we have not paid much attention to that fact until now,” a prefectural government official said. “We want them to undergo the proper processes and receive the same caregiving services as Japanese.”

The prefecture’s initial budget proposed for fiscal 2020, announced on Feb. 13, included 4 million yen ($35,800) for the pamphlets.

The 4 million yen is part of the prefecture’s budget of more than 210 million yen to work on creating a society that values multiculturism.

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