Japan is now proceeding toward a super-longevity society, as shown by the longest average life span at birth and the rapid increase of population of centenarians. Urgent problems in this country is to promote healthy aging and to compress the occurrence of disable and bed-bound elderly and dementia. Although Japanese food and dietary custom have various merits for healthy aging, some aspects should be improved in order for further improvement of health conditions of the late elderly. The body movements, particularly walking and speaking with others are essentially important for healthy aging. Furthermore, spiritual aspects, such as strong will of long-living and having wide interests which give feelings of worth to live are of great importance. It also seems of great importance to create a new culture among general population which is related to philosophy of how to live, how to die and how to play a role in the society even at a high age.

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In 1984-87, the Skaevinge Municipality applied Integrated Home Care based on self-care theory and using the action research method. After 10 years (1997) the Municipal Committee, requested the Danish Institute of Health Care to undertake an impartial investigation of what effects the Skaevinge Project, had on the older population of the Municipality compared with the rest of the county and nationally. The goals were: 1) Health care was to be made available to all citizens in institutions and in their own homes. 2) Prevention and support to maintain and strengthen the citizens' own health and quality of life, were to be prioritised. The method used meant that citizens had jointly decision-making and the staff were given autonomy and competence, built on trust from the policymakers. The results derive from the perspectives of the citizen (questionaries), the staff groups (interviews) and the society at large (interviews and statistical analysis). More older people in 1997 (40.8%) assessed their own health as better in comparison with those of same age in 1985 (28.9%). The interviews seen from the staff perspective, the leadership and the politicians today, were a success due to: A long and thorough preparatory process; involvement in decision-making and the feeling of ownership and responsibility. The number of days citizens spend in hospital (67+years) fell by >30% and the municipality did not over the past 10 years experience waiting days for returning to the Health Care Centre or to get immediate home care when needed.

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