2023 Volume 72 Issue 5 Pages 376-
In anticipation of 2025, when the baby boomer generation will reach the age of 75 or older, efforts have been made to build the community-based integrated care system. After 2025, the number of working people will decrease and it will be difficult to secure medical and nursing care professionals, while the number of people aged 85 years and older will increase. Furthermore, these demographic trends and regional resources differ by region.
The lives of elderly people in the community are enriched not only through their relationships with medical and nursing care professionals, but also with local residents and industry. Society is being shaped as well. Within these community connections, we encourage the independent activities of local residents and the involvement of diverse local actors. While medical and nursing care professionals are involved, elderly people themselves can choose appropriate activities. The elderly can connect with the local community and medical/nursing care professionals while they are still healthy, and continue social activities based on these connections; even when nursing care becomes necessary, each resident can be themselves while receiving the necessary support. There is a need to aim for the realization of a “community coexistence society” where people can continue to live.
The care prevention and daily life support project that took its current form due to the revision of the long-term care insurance system in 2014 is positioned as the basis for community development; municipalities, which are insurers, play a central role, and medical and nursing care professionals become more specialized. There is a need to design and enrich the region from the perspective of combining the strengths of the region, including the elderly and diverse actors, while demonstrating the power of the community.
