noun
requiring nursing care; needing long-term care
Used in the context of Japan's long-term care insurance system to describe a person certified as needing care. Often appears in compounds like 要介護認定 (certification of needing care) and 要介護度 (level of care needed).
祖母は要介護認定を受けている。
My grandmother has been certified as requiring nursing care.
要支援 is a lower level of need in the same system, indicating a person who requires support rather than full nursing care.
Compound of 要 (need) and 介護 (nursing care).