An illiterate elderly woman from Tainan in Taiwan, who complained of being strangely tired during the day, was later found to have taken sleeping pills mistakenly with the help of her Indonesian caregiver.
The 70-year-old woman surnamed Lin, whose adult children work in northern Taiwan and return home to look after her only during holidays, was recently sleeping during the day while failing to fall asleep at night, the Udn Daily News reported on the weekend.
The woman’s children went through her prescription and were shocked to learn that their caregiver had mixed up the pills and was giving their mother the night’s sleeping pills after breakfast.
In order to avoid future confusion, they immediately wrote notes in native Indonesian so that the foreign caregiver could understand and refer to.
Chen Lih-Ren, a chemist from Tainan, agreed that prescriptions should also be printed in foreign languages on top of traditional Chinese and English, as many elderly patients in Taiwan have foreign caregivers who look after them.
Chen said he would propose that the Taiwan Pharmacist Association should write to the Ministry of Health and Welfare about the issue.
Public health officials for Tainan City government noted that they would reflect public concern on the matter to the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Meanwhile, they would explore the possibility of issuing prescriptions in other languages with hospitals and private clinics.
I can agree to this. English would be a great step forward.
"It is a must." some employers doesn’t know how to speak english,so difficult to have conversation with them.The whole family doesn’t know how to speak english but I am thankful that I understand what they are talking about especially in giving medicines.Giving care is not that easy!
Not all Indonesian can’t speak & can’t write in English. Some of them are my co-caretaker’s here in Nantou and they can speak English fluently….you know, Indonesian’s are in demand compare to us..????!!!….because they can speak Chinese language fluently even they are beginners….
Just saying…
It’s common sense…if you dont understand, just ask your employer about the prescription of medicines and labeled the box or bottles of the medicine in your own language…
Totally agree Ghie! Far way better in Chinese than us. It’s time we learn to stop to undermine other people thinking we are more superior than them only because we speak English a little better than.
Ghie Tingson hindi lahat ng Indo magaling mgmandarin, meron dto s are namin 3yrs n pero d marunong. At nsa tao yon kung gusto nyo matuto ng mandarin pag aralan nyo kc ako natuto rin!
If you don’t understand the prescription,you can ask your employer,and you write down with your on language,mostly in taiwan people they don’t know how to speak english and they don’t know how to read English,I can agree to this,English is be a great step forward,some of the hospital in taiwan the prescription is no English language,and have many Indonesian people they don’t know English language…