Articles

Recruiting and Retaining Vietnam’s Long-Term Care Workforce: Creating Sustainable Care Careers
Vietnam’s growing demand for long-term care will require more than recruiting additional caregivers. This article examines how pay, employment conditions, occupational status, workload, supervision, career progression, geography and workforce planning influence whether people enter care work and remain in it. It considers how Vietnam can build sustainable care careers while protecting continuity for older and disabled people, supporting families and developing a formal care economy suited to the country’s changing demographic and social conditions. Read more...
Professionalising Care Work in Vietnam: Training, Competence and Career Development
Professionalising care work in Vietnam will require more than expanding the number of people trained to support older and disabled people. This article examines how occupational identity, competency-based education, practical learning, supervision, specialist skills and credible career pathways could strengthen care quality while creating more attractive employment. It also considers how Vietnam can formalise care without undervaluing family knowledge, community support or the distinct responsibilities of health and social care professionals. Read more...
Vietnam’s Social Care Workforce: Building Capacity for an Ageing Population
Vietnam’s ageing population will require a much larger and more capable care workforce, but capacity cannot be built through recruitment alone. This article examines how family caregivers, community volunteers, paid care workers, nurses, social workers and rehabilitation professionals fit within Vietnam’s emerging long-term care system, and why training, career pathways, supervision, financing and workforce data will determine whether formal care can expand sustainably. Read more...
Urbanisation and Social Care in Vietnam: How Changing Cities Are Reshaping Care and Support
Vietnam’s rapid urban transformation is changing where families live, how they work and the practical conditions in which older and disabled people receive support. This article examines how migration, housing, family change, workforce pressures, community infrastructure and emerging care markets are reshaping social care in cities, and why urban planning, health services and long-term care development increasingly need to be considered together. Read more...
Rural Social Care in Vietnam: Access, Workforce and Service Delivery Outside Major Cities
Rural Vietnam faces a distinctive social-care challenge as population ageing, migration, chronic illness and disability increase the need for support across communities with very different infrastructure and workforce capacity. This article examines how grassroots health services, families, community organizations, social care, digital infrastructure and provincial planning can create more reliable rural care pathways while addressing distance, workforce shortages, ethnic and cultural diversity, affordability and unequal access. Read more...
Palliative and End-of-Life Care in Vietnam: Expanding Access Beyond Hospitals
Vietnam has developed important palliative-care expertise, particularly within hospitals and cancer services, but serious illness increasingly requires support that reaches people and families closer to home. This article examines how Vietnam can strengthen palliative and end-of-life pathways across hospitals, primary care and communities, with attention to pain relief, workforce capability, family support, financing, rural access, quality, rights and continuity. Read more...
Mental Health and Community Support in Vietnam: Closing the Gap Between Need and Accessible Care
Vietnam is gradually moving mental health beyond a predominantly specialist and hospital-based model, but access, workforce capacity, stigma and continuity remain significant challenges. This article examines how primary health care, community support, specialist services, social participation, digital access and stronger governance could connect into a more accessible mental-health system while protecting rights and responding to regional differences. Read more...
Dementia Care in Vietnam: Preparing Services, Families and Communities for Growing Need
Vietnam’s rapid population ageing will make dementia an increasingly important test of its emerging long-term care system. This article examines how earlier recognition, primary and specialist health care, family support, community services, workforce development, safeguarding and dementia-capable environments can connect into a more sustainable pathway that protects autonomy while responding to changing levels of need. Read more...
Community-Based Rehabilitation in Vietnam: Connecting Health, Disability and Social Participation
Community-based rehabilitation can connect clinical recovery with the realities of everyday life for people with disabilities in Vietnam. This article examines how rehabilitation can operate across households, commune-level services, specialist facilities and communities, while strengthening referral pathways, workforce capability, assistive technology, participation, quality assurance and the transition from impairment-focused intervention towards inclusive community living. Read more...
Disability Support in Vietnam: From Protection and Assistance Towards Inclusion and Independent Living
Vietnam’s disability system is moving beyond a model centered primarily on protection and assistance towards stronger rights, participation and inclusion. This article examines how legislation, social protection, health care, rehabilitation, accessibility, employment, community support and local implementation interact, and what a more independent-living approach could mean for people with disabilities, families, services and public authorities. Read more...
Healthy Aging in Vietnam: Prevention, Independence and Reducing Future Care Dependency
Healthy aging in Vietnam is increasingly a long-term care strategy as well as a public health priority. This article examines how prevention, chronic disease management, functional ability, rehabilitation, age-friendly communities and stronger primary care can help older people remain independent for longer while reducing avoidable care dependency as Vietnam’s population ages. Read more...
Residential and Nursing Care in Vietnam: Quality, Regulation and Future Models
Residential care for older people remains a relatively small but increasingly important part of Vietnam’s developing long-term care system. This article examines public, charitable and private provision, the pressures shaping future demand, and the operational requirements for quality, affordability, workforce development and stronger connections between nursing homes, families, hospitals and community-based support. Read more...