This paper has clarified the following based on the questionnaire analysis from the specifications of voluntary community development activities that elderly people do not perform in turns in the primary school district where they live and those activities they participate in beyond that district boundaries.
1) 39% activities started before age 59, 67% before age 64, and 15% after age 70.According to time of retirement, shows that nearly half, started activities after retirement. By type of activity, about 40% are welfare-related activities, 10%, are related to making places for the elderly. The average number of activities in school districts is 0.3, while the average number outside districts is 1.8, and overall average is 2.1.
2) Considering only activities outside the school district, based on cluster analysis, valid 220 activities are divided into four groups based on specifications of them. In every group, welfare-related activities are numerous, and are divided into groups with combining other specifications. In Group 1, activities done about once a month, in the afternoon or in the morning + afternoon, for “3≦ <5 hours”, are included in a total 68%, such that most are “11≦ ≦20 people” with participants only in their 70s and 80s. In contrast, group 2 are wide-area activities held about several times a year. In Group 3, the days of the week of participation are indefinite, regarding the participation time-zone in day, in many cases it is morning + afternoon, and more than 5 hours or “2≦ <3 hours”. Regarding participation frequency, it is often “2≦ <3 times”, or “3≦ <5 times per month”. Regarding number of helpers, it is “3≦ ≦5”, no central age, or only 50s and 60s. In Group 4, the days of the week of participation and time-zone are both indefinite, but regarding activity hours, the time is“3≦ <5 hours”. Regarding participation frequency, many are “1≦ <2 times per month”. Regarding number of helpers, it is often six to ten, and the average age of the helpers is often only 70s to 80s, or no central age.
3) According to discriminant analysis, from items of the first activity outside school districts, the specification of activity and attributes of the elderly closely related to two or more activities outside the school district is clarified. That closely related to two or more activities outside district is activity hours per 1 participation. Many people reported two or more activities are taking “2≦ <3 hours”, or indefinite hours. Next, regarding the types of activities, such as those related to making places for elderly people or wide-area activity, community-development activity (narrowly defined), there is a marked trend toward two or more activities.
4) As characteristics of the 13 elderly people who perform four or more activities in parallel now, males and officers in neighborhood association are more numerous than in the values under the averages number of overall survey respondents. 85% of their all activities are involved outside the school district. Regarding types of activities, the most numerous are making places for elderly people at 21%, followed by welfare-related activities at 18%.
As above, the results have clearly shown that activities that transcend the school district where the elderly live, include activities in which condition of participation is decided according to the schedule of themselves, by, for example, including those with low monthly participation frequency or those with indefinite day of the week of participation, and that the travel time is often short; in other words, the number of activities is increased by such convenient conditions for their own participation.
