Educational support for obtaining national qualifications of foreign care workers: A qualitative analysis

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to clarify the needs and issues of continuing employment and educational support for foreign care worker candidates (hereinafter referred to as candidates) to acquire national qualifications. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 people who took and passed the National Examination for Care Workers. The data was analyzed using the constant comparative method of the grounded theory approach. The validity of the results was examined by member checks and peer debriefing. Results: With “the wall in the process of acquiring national qualifications” as the core category, four categories were extracted as factors related to foreign care workers and accepting facilities, and six categories were extracted as factors related to accepting facilities and educational support. Conclusions: We considered that the needs and issues of continuation of employment and educational support from the perspective of successful applicants are diverse across both training and practical aspects, and are related to the protection of the rights of foreign candidates. Educational support for acquiring national qualifications should meet various needs related to working and learning at the same time, and there are limitations to current training programs. It is necessary to evaluate and improve the current program based on this new knowledge.