This study is to examine the realities of how people cope with an emergency (sudden illness, accidents, for example) of the aged in a household where only an aged person lives alone or he/she has only a spouse and no one else, and what they think about this situation. This study is based on the research in which the aged in the aged-only households and their children living away from them were surveyed. The conclusion of the study is as follows : 1) Those who contact the aged in an emergency or regularly check his/her safety are his/her children or spouse and not their neighbors. 2) The children are much more concerned of an emergency, feeling the necessity of preparing for it much more strongly than their parents. 3) With regard to the contact in case of an emergency, the children want their parents to use “emergency call system” while the parents take the idea rather negatively. With regard to regular safety check, both the children and the parents are not familiar with what kind of service is available. Even where they know of some services, they seem not so keen to depend on them. The main reason for unpopularity seems to be the cost involved. Besides, the operational difficulties and concerns about privacy make the parents reluctant to use those services. Furthermore, the children are more likely to accept an idea to sharing the cost with their parents while the parents mostly think that they themselves should bear the expenses themselves.
