As a rapid expansion of the population of older people is underway in our country, there is definitely a growing interest in the housing facilities for the elderly. Both as an alternative residence that is not a hospital or a residential home, where the elderly can live among friends with well-being and welfare, and also can be provided nursing care and personal assistance for their daily lives.
The market for the elderly has been growing larger and larger as a variety of housing facilities for the elderly have been supplied by a for-profit-corporation, a social welfare corporation, and a medical corporation since public nursing insurance system started in 2000. A total of 28, 500 housing facilities for the elderly, containing 1.27 million rooms and a capacity of 1.3 million people, have been supplied in our country as of December, 2006. The population of adults as of December 2006 aged 65 and over (the number of the first insured person covered by public nursing insurance system) was about 26, 480, 000 people. This means that about 4.9% of the elderly population has the ability to live in these housing facilities.
Recently there has been volume control emplaced in regards to elderly homes (pay nursing homes and group homes for demented elders) which started since the latest revision of the nursing insurance system in 2006, which makes it difficult to establish new facilities under many local governments. Meanwhile, it is scheduled that medical care facilities for the elderly requiring long-term care will be abolished in accordance with the health insurance reform by the end of 2011. There are about 230, 000 facilities that will be closed in the near future, leaving the patients to be transferred to healthcare facilities for the elderly and pay nursing homes.
Furthermore, as the new system, “the rental housing for the elderly only” has been established by the new policy of the
Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure and Transport of Japan, several measures aimed at the further improvement of the rental housing for the elderly has been implemented.
In order to cope with rapidly aging population, it is necessary to take the adequate measures for the improvement of housing facilities for the elderly based on the present condition. Local governments should satisfy the necessary volumes, based on the total balance of the improvement by accurately analyzing cost and effects of each housing facility for the elderly and grasping customer needs in detail by doing necessary research, not in the shortsighted approach such as a total volume control over thepay nursing home.
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