Competencies framework for elderly caregivers in Malaysia based on 21st century skills and green skills

Abstract

Malaysia needs skilled workers to achieve the vision 2020. The Malaysian government has created more job opportunities that require highly-skilled workers. The demographics of population ageing in Malaysia demand the knowledgeable, skilled and dedicated elderly caregivers. However, the main hindrance remains the shortage of trained and competent elderly caregivers in Malaysia. The problem that this study addresses is that to date research has not presented a competency framework for 21st-century job skills and green job skills for healthcare workers in the aged care industry. Therefore, the study will investigate the constructs and sub-constructs of the 21st-century job skills and green skills competency framework for elderly caregivers in the care and community services. The reason is that these skills will be needed and demand for the future human resources. The Iceberg Model by Spencer and Spencer (1993), 21st-century job skills and green job skills will be guided and presented as a conceptual framework for which this study rests. This study employed an exploratory sequential mixed method design comprising both qualitative and quantitative.