Video #4 - Elderly Care Service Industry in Japan

Monday, January 09, 2006

sources | lesson plan

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

With senior citizens making up a growing part Japan's population, a number of businesses have begun to provide a range of elderly-care services. The services run the gamut -- from home care for those aged left alone after their families have moved out to overseas tours accompanied by nursing-care staff.

One of the more unique services now available is home care for the elderly who are home alone. The service keeps an eye on the situation at home and reports to the senior citizen's family members, who can feel at ease as they move elsewhere in Japan or even overseas to work. The aim is to support the independent living of the aged customer by helping with the shopping or chores around the house. The company charges about 2,200 yen (18 dollars at 120 yen to the dollar) per hour for these house calls. Most of its customers are currently individuals, but the group expects increasing business from corporations, as such services are offered as an employee benefit. This is because the growing foreign presence of Japanese companies should require more Japanese workers to be sent overseas.

A major human service company has also entered this burgeoning market, with overseas tours catering to the elderly needing nursing care. The firm's first tour was a four-night package to Hawaii accompanied by a nurse and a home-care specialist. About 10 people, including some in wheelchairs, enjoyed the tour. It applied the staff's nursing home management expertise to make the trip as comfortable as home for the participants.

Additionally, taxi companies have established a cooperative emergency alert support network which is operating in around 40 areas throughout Japan. Customers of the service pay a 4,800 yen (40 dollars) monthly rental fee for an emergency alert device. They register their medical information-- such as blood type, blood pressure, medical history, allergies, insurance information, and family doctor-- with the service. In an emergency, they have only to activate their alert device and this information will all be displayed on a monitor at the nearby taxi company, which will send a cab for them right away; depending on the situation, the company can also contact an ambulance or the police. Local governments are examining this network closely, and a few municipalities are financing a portion of the program.

Care service is usually a labor-intensive industry, with personnel fees making up the largest share of the costs. Until recently, this industry had a a hard time attracting capital investment and was unable to utilize economies of scale. In 1997, the introduction of a system of public nursing-care services by April of 2000 changed all that. In June of that year, a major maker of medical instruments started a bathing assistance service for elderly shut-ins. A large Osaka housing company then established a fully funded subsidiary to run a private nursing home. A beverage firm active in the Kansai region made preparations for its new home nursing-care service. In Tokyo, a life insurance company established a "care corner" in each of its five main urban offices across the country. Operated in cooperation with local social workers, it offered heath and other advice and referrals to care professionals.

The statistics make this a promising business. The Ministry of Health and Welfare estimates the number of Japanese elderly needing nursing care at 2.8 million in 2000, 4 million in 2010, and as high as 5.2 million in 2025. To prepare for this, the Health Ministry plans to separate nursing services from existing medical care. The new insurance scheme is expected to incur expenses of 4.2 trillion yen (35 billion dollars) in fiscal 2000 (April 2000 to March 2001), its first year of operation under the public nursing-care plan. This amount is out of the reach of public monies alone.

Furthermore, it is commonly accepted that private services will cost less than their public counterparts. According to a survey conducted by the Japan Association for Administration of Local Government, "home-helper" service, involving nursing care and help with household chores, costs over 5,000 yen (42 dollars) when provided by municipal employees, but less than half as much for the private equivalent. A privately run bathing service only costs about 14,000 yen (117 dollars), compared to the public charge of 32,400 yen(270 dollars). And a one-month stay in a municipally operated nursing home costs close to 366,000 yen (3,000 dollars), almost 50% more than the 267,000 yen (2,200 dollars) charged by a private home.

Despite these dramatic differences, out-of-pocket costs for care recipients are lower at the public facilities. However, more local governments are cooperating with private concerns as they seek to improve their own public services, and the private sector seems certain to shoulder an ever bigger portion of the nursing-care load in the future.

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SOURCES:

"New Ways to Help the Old: Elderly-Care Service Industry Enjoys Boom." Trends in Japan, Japan Echo Inc., August 18, 1997. www.jin.jcic.or.jp/trends98/honbun/ntj970818.html

Seike, Atsushi, "The Public Insurance System for Long-Term Care and the Development of a Workforce to Supply its Services" Special Topic, Vol.37, No.12 December 1, 1998. www.jil.go.jp/bulletin/year/1998/vol137-12/04.htm

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LESSON PLAN

GRADE LEVEL/SUBJECT: 10-12/Economics, International Relations, World History, International Baccalaureate Programs(IB), Current Events.

PURPOSE: to present activities to be used at a variety of classroom situations in order to enhance student understanding of Japanese economy and its significance globally.

OBJECTIVES: Students will be able to:

1. Describe the development of the elderly-care industry in Japan.
2. Compare and contrast the elderly-care systems of the U.S. with that of Japan.
3. Compare and contrast the elderly-care systems of different countries around the world.
4. Analyze the business possibilities of the elderly care industry.
5. Suggest ways in which elderly care may be improved to fit the needs of the generation they represent.

MATERIALS:

1. Background information provided.
2. Resources on the available at your school's Media Center and the Public Library System in your area.
3. Background information available through Internet "search engines".
4. www.jin.jcic.or.jp/trends98/honbun/ntj970818.html
5. www.jil.go.jp/bulletin/year/1998/vol137-12/04.htm (Reached through Google, extensive data and graphs on the Public Insurance System.)
6. www.medtraining.com/home_health_care_-_wheelch.html
7. www.kaigo.gr.jp/JLC/hp.html

ACTIVITIES: May be assigned as group activities or as individual tasks. They may also be designed as preparation for related presentations either by individuals or groups.

1. Divide the class into cooperative learning groups. Assign a country or a region of the world to each. Allow them to research the elderly care system of their area. Have them create Venn Diagrams comparing and contrasting each other's findings. Report findings to the class. Display the diagrams.
2. Write an editorial suggesting ways in which elderly care should be provided by the time the students' generation can benefit from it. (This may be used as the culminating activity for #1.)
3. Brainstorm a list of business possibilities related to elderly care.
4. Collect statistical information on the elderly care systems of the U.S. and Japan.
5. Make recommendations as to what both countries can learn from each other in class presentations. (The brainstorm list (#3) may be used to divide the different sectors of the industry among the cooperative learning groups)
6. Write a diary entry from the point of view of an elderly person receiving care; a care giver; a relative responsible for an elderly person; a business entrepreneur looking at the industry for investment; a municipal government leader.

EVALUATION: Individual assignments should be graded by the teacher using established criteria. Group activities, presentations and projects may be evaluated by teachers and students using the following criteria and scale:

Content 1= Superior (A) Creativity 2= Excellent (B) Clarity 3= Good (C) 4= Fair (D) 5= Poor (F)

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