Current Situation and Issues of “Evaluation” of Municipal Eldercare Policy

Abstract

The Elderly Health and Welfare Promotion 10 Year Strategy （1989） is Japan’s first policy to set goals for developing of eldercare services, compelling all municipalities to have their own Municipal Eldercare Plan. The eldercare system has changed from administrative measure to contract system introducting the Long-Term Care Insurance System （2000）. Simultaneously, the taxation scheme of eldercare has changed to a social insurance system, and the marketization of eldercare has progressed. It means that municipal eldercare policy has changed to a character different from other municipal welfare policies. “Evaluation” has become necessary for Municipal Long-Term Care Plan. Municipalities introduced a service quality evaluation system in 2000’s, however, Municipal Long-Term Care Plan showed only how much they completed their amount goal of long-term care services without policy evaluation. A kind of policy evaluation of care prevention in some 8th Municipal Long-Term Care Plan （from April 1, 2021） has appeared.

This paper tries clarifying and analyzing the current state of “evaluation” of municipal eldercare using 8th Municipal Long-Term Care Plan and Elderly Welfare Plan in Osaka as examples. In additionally, this study discuss possibility of policy of marketization evaluation in care prevention as municipal eldercare policy.