Photo/Illutration A caregiver uses voice recognition software on her smartphone by speaking into a headset at the Sawayaka Nursing Villa home for the elderly in Minokamo, Gifu Prefecture, in June. (Tetsuo Teranishi)

MINOKAMO, Gifu Prefecture--A nursing home here is using technology tailored for the industry to recruit and retain foreign workers, clear the language barrier and reduce its staff’s workload.

Software with voice input that was introduced in January is proving to be a big help at the nonprofit assisted living complex Sawayaka Nursing Villa.

Armed with a headset and the app on their smartphones, all a staff member needs to do is say “Hey! Wiz” for the voice recognition program to kick in.

“Start recording. Meal--main dish, 50 percent; side dish, 70 percent,” she says in Japanese after checking in on a resident. This verbal shorthand means they finished half of their main dish and 70 percent of their side dish.

Caregivers maintain daily logs for each of the facility’s 160 or so elderly residents, including those who stay for only a short period, and share them among the staff.

These records cover bathing, bowel movements, functional training and other activities to assess each of their charge’s overall well-being.

Favoring audio over written accounts is part of the nursing home’s effort for smoother communication among its caregivers.

Many international workers at the facility have N2 certification, the second-highest level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), a nationwide exam to measure and certify Japanese language skills.

However, since none of the JLPT’s levels have a writing section, many with N2 certification still find it a challenge to write in Japanese.

“There are many international workers who struggle with writing Japanese, although they have little problem with speaking in Japanese,” said Naoki Sakai, who heads Sawayaka Nursing Villa’s administration division. “The voice input is helpful and has reduced their work burden.”

Cho Thae, a caregiver from Myanmar, hails the software.

“The speech input has made my daily tasks easier,” said the 31-year-old.

The nursing home is also using the technology to show when residents are “asleep,” “lying in bed, but awake” or “out of bed” through sensor-embedded beds introduced five years ago.

Once the sensors register the data, the individual’s status appears as a corresponding graphic on a screen displaying all residents’ beds.

The screen acts as a quick visual overview and swiftly alerts caregivers of any sudden changes in movement. This allows them to make fewer check-in rounds, according to nursing home officials.

Jikeikai, the medical corporation that runs Sawayaka Nursing Villa complex, began hiring overseas talent and incorporating more technology into a variety of tasks three years ago.

Today, around 5 percent of its workforce is from overseas. Its 34 international caregivers are from countries that include Myanmar, the Philippines and Sri Lanka.

Foreign staff seeking to improve their language skills or gain a new job license can also receive official corporate support.

Jikeiki partially covers expenses for Japanese language courses and offers training to prepare workers planning to take the certified care worker exam. These efforts are designed to help retain them.

Moreover, Japanese and international staff share the same working conditions, something that is not always the case at many facilities in the industry.

Some of the foreign caregivers joined Sawayaka Nursing Villa after learning about its work environment and pay, leaving their previous employers in the Tohoku, Shikoku and Kyushu regions.

One of them is Snow Pwint, a 28-year-old from Myanmar, who worked at a nursing home in Saitama Prefecture until two years ago.

“I was not offered a bonus and not allowed to do a night shift when I worked there,” she said. “I want to work at this facility as long as I can.”

She plans to acquire a permanent residency visa.
Jikeikai intends to continue hiring more staff from overseas and recruit in the countries of prospective hires.

“We are hoping to attract talented individuals by further simplifying daily responsibilities through digitization and creating a better work environment,” Sakai said.

Related News