title: [Developing the core competencies of long-term care professionals].
abstract: Longer average life expectancies and an ageing society have made long-term care an urgent and important issue in Taiwan. Although the implementation of Long-Term Care Ten-year Project four years ago has begun showing success in terms of assessing Taiwan's needs in terms of long-term care services and resources, there has been little forward progress in terms of training, recruiting and maintaining more competent professionals in the long-term care sector. This paper explores the current state of long-term care competency in Taiwan and educational strategies in place to improve the competency of long-term care professionals. Results indicate that the term  geriatric competency embraces sub-competencies in direct care, communication, assessment, teamwork, cultural sensitivities and career care competencies. The term  long-term care competency  embraces the sub-competencies of supervision, management, information technology, resource management, and organizational skill. As a main contributor to effective long-term care, the nursing profession must employ effective strategies to develop competency-based education. Also, the profession must have an adequate supply of competent manpower to effectively respond to Taiwan's aging society.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Catholic Fu Jen University, Taiwan, ROC. 046509@mail.fju.edu.tw
authors.forename: Huey-Tzy
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Kuang-Ting
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D006299:Health Services for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D008134:Long-Term Care; D011361:Professional Competence; D013624:Taiwan