The roles and contributions of home and community-based care-givers for older people in Vietnam: Review of current practices for policy formulation

This project aims to provide evidence of and advocate policies and programs for caring for older people. Along with its main products, including a report, policy briefs, and policy-advocacy presentations, the Project will hold a number of policy dialogues, forums, roundtable thematic discussions, and press conferences to deliver key messages on caring for older people to key stakeholders such as the Vietnam’s National Assembly, Central Committee for Popularization and Education (CCPE), Vietnam National Committee on Ageing (VNCA), Ministry of Health (MoH), Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA), mass media, NGOs and private sector, research institutions, and local representatives.
 
Details of project activities

1. Composing policy recommendationThe Project team will participate in seminars, dialogues and presentations as a team, but with different team members taking the lead for different audiences depending on their respective experience, expertise and networks. Wider regional evidence will be included as inputs to the policy formulation process, drawn from both the personal experiences and knowledge of individual team members and desktop literature reviews of elderly care-giving models and programs in Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Japan.
2. Dissemination / dialogue of the policy recommendationAudiences / stakeholders: NA; CCPE; VNCA; VWU, VAE; MoH, MoLISA, MoF, MPI; mass media; NGOs and private sector; research institutions; local representatives.

Methods

Awareness-raising forums; policy dialogues; roundtable thematic discussions and press conferences.

 
Expected impacts of the project
 

Findings and recommendations of the Review will be disseminated through policy dialogues, forums, roundtable thematic discussions and press conferences, and will:

• - change the awareness and attitudes of policy makers, practitioners, community and family members; and researchers, so that older people come to be considered not burdens but valuable assets to society as a whole
• - emphasize older people’s care rights and needs
• - gain support from policy makers in reviewing and formulating policies and programs for elderly care-giving initiatives and care-givers, specifically on community-based health care, health insurance for elderly, training for community-based care givers (examples of such initiatives include MoLISA’s nationwide “Center of Social Protection for the Elderly”, Da Nang Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism’s “Da Nang Sport Center for the Elderly”, VWU’s “Promoting intergenerational approaches to improve life for disadvantaged groups in Vietnam” project, supported by the EU, VNCA’s “Volunteer-based care for disadvantaged elderly in the community”, and VWU’s “Intergenerational Club”)
• - learn from and share experiences in care-giving for older people from/to other neighboring countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Japan.