| Title |
A Study on Local Resources of Connected Care System in Japan for Independent Living of the Elderly |
| DOI |
http://dx.doi.org/10.5659/JAIK_PD.2015.31.4.37 |
| Keywords |
Senior Citizens ; Residential Environments ; Local Resources ; Connected Care System ; Informal Resources |
| Abstract |
This study is aimed at exploring the roles and features of informal resources of the connected care system in Japan. It revolves around senior citizens and their residential environment within the daily living sphere within 30 minutes away. The findings of this study are as follows. Securing local resources and utilizing them properly is the key to supporting the independent living of the elderly through a connected care system. Among the local resources, 'informal resources' are located in the daily living sphere of the elderly. Therefore, informal resources are the most familiar, accessible ones. In terms of participation of informal resources in the regional connected care system, the ratio of each group was similar in the cities with around 500,000 residents. In metropolitan cities with more than a million people, particular resource groups such as NPO, volunteers, and association of doctors were more likely to participate. In rural areas with less than 50,000 residents, some resource groups such as community cafe and volunteers were more likely to participate. However, their participation ratio was low, about the half of metropolitan city resource groups. The cause is obviously the differences in the amount of local resources and scale of private service market. Although the different resource quantity is inevitable due to the different local population, insufficient local resources can be provided through public services. Thus, it is necessary to bolster the services to solve the resource issue in advance. |