Major issues and challenges
25. Regulations and enforcement
In Malaysia, there are residential/institution and non-residential/
community types of services. The institution care in Malaysia is
governed by two types of licensing i.e. Care Centres Act 1993 and
Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 and Regulations
2006. However, there are also other forms of institution care for
older persons which are not licensed under these Acts. As an example
shelter for old folks (charity) is licensed under Registry of Society (ROS)
and high rise, serviced apartments and privately owned congregated
housing for seniors are licensed under Registry of Companies (ROC).
26. The small scale operators mostly have issues with their
resources (financial, human resource) which impede their
ability to pursue licensing requirements. Operators see
compliance and licensing process as a tedious process
shrouded by red-tape as it requires clearance from multiple
agencies. The majority of operators are unlicensed or choose the least
restrictive option even though some nursing services are being provided.
27. Current regulations only looked at institutional care, there are no
regulations to cover other housing with care options such as
retirement village and home based services such as home help and
home nursing which are currently outside the law.
28. It was highlighted that there are current initiatives from PEMANDU
58
Seniors Living Lab as follows:
a. Integrating the different Acts to form a new Aged Care Act,
led by the Ministry of Health.
b. Planning Guidelines for Older Persons, led by Department of
Town and Country Planning.
c. Quality of standard, led by Department of Standards, Ministry of
Science, technology and Innovation.
58 The work in progress related to this lab are new act and regulations for Integrated Residential Care Centre
(IRCC) under Ministry of Health; planning guidelines by Jabatan Perancangan Bandar dan Desa (JPBD); Human
Resources requirements by Jabatan Pembangunan Kemahiran (JPK); Transformation of old folks/nursing homes;
encourage reverse mortgages products by banks; insurance for mobile/home and long term
care; ARB as
trustees of fund for payment to institutions (source: Economic Transformation
Programme, National Key Economic area (NKEA): Healthcare, Link Healthcare Event, 24 April 2013 p. 42
REPORT ON CARE SERVICES FOR OLDER PERSONS AND SUPPORT FOR CAREGIVERS
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