Analysis of Multicultural Competency in Aged Care Services: A Hybrid Curriculum Model for a Distance Learning Course for Indonesian Students from Taiwan Hsiu-Ching Chen
Social Work Department, Asia University, 500, Lioufeng Rd., Wufeng, Taichung 41354, Taiwan
Abstract
In the long-term care system, individualized service design is one of the main work modes, and it mainly implements care strategies and resource arrangements for the individual needs of the elderly. However, while improving the caring ability of students, the cultivation of cross-cultural competence will help learners to improve the quality of elder care. This is a qualitative research and a secondary data analysis of the learning process of Indonesian students in the course of Social Work with Elder People in Taiwan. Ten students agreed to participate in the study. A total of 18 weeks is divided into four hybrid sections (including synchronize and asynchronous) and online discussions with social media group settings. The learners experience six transitions in the process: 1. Comparison of long-term care policies in Indonesia and Taiwan. 2. Responding to cultural issues about caring for the elderly at home. 3. Faced with the response to the actual care situation and learning in the field by interviewing the workers in Indonesia. 4. Learner feedback through live interviews and training videos can serve as the cross-cultural learning. 5. Learners express with higher mental capacity through social media group settings with supervision and personal written expression. 6. Possess preliminary intercultural competencies and caring skills that actually help in caring for older adults. The limitations of the study: 1. Preliminary analysis of learners cultural competence only through their online postings and written reports. 2. Due to online courses, learners lack practical guidance to care for cross-cultural skills. 3. This course discusses only a subset of learners multicultural competencies in relation to age, ethnicity, and other social characteristics.
Keywords: Multicultural competency- Elderly social work skills- Hybrid course- Distance learning course
