Long-term care insurance law was amended in 2005 and policies which promote aging-in-place have been more strongly emphasized. Care-managers are expected to play an important role in terms of the elderly’s community based care. However, the recent change in the system has brought them a heavy burden of work and a condition leading to burn out. This study used data from Care Work Foundation’s survey on care-managers (794 people) in 2008 to find factors which influence care-managers’ job retention. The results showed that factors of job satisfaction concerning “work content”, “personal valuation and treatment” and “personal relationship among staff” had an affect on care-managers’ intention to stay, but “wages” and “job conditions” did not have significant influence. Care-managers who work at NPOs are less likely to wish to stay on their job. On the contrary, those who work at Social Welfare Councils are more likely to stay on their job. From these results, it can be concluded that important factors to promote job retention are job satisfaction with work content, personal valuation, and personal relationships. Organizational factors such as ownership may also affect care-managers’ intention to stay on their job.

  This study examined how job status and attitude toward work in old age affect participation in non-paid social activities among middle-aged and older adults. Data were obtained from a social survey administered to residents aged 55 or older in Kashiwa city, Chiba (n = 1133). Results showed that more than half of the respondents aged 55 to 64 were in the workforce, and about 60% of the respondents expressed their desire to continue to work as long as possible, but with fewer burdens and lower wages. Logistic regression analysis found that, among male respondents, those who were not employed full-time and those who prefer to retire from paid work at a certain age were more likely to engage in non-paid social activities such as hobby clubs, sports clubs, and neighborhood associations. Among female respondents, working full-time or part-time was associated with less participation in non-paid social activities, which suggests that continuing full-time work and a desire to remain working full-time may discourage participation in non-paid social activities in older age. Further studies should focus on how society can utilize older adults' high motivation to work, while ensuring their well-being.

  To evaluate the impact of satisfied isolation on the onset of functional disability of older Japanese adults, we performed a prospective data analysis. We collected baseline information in 2003 from 13,310 functionally independent residents aged 65 years or older who lived in six municipalities in Aichi prefecture. The onset of functional disability was obtained from municipal databases of the public long-term care insurance system. All participants were followed for up to 4 years. Respondents who had face-to-face and non-face-to-face contacts once or twice per month or less were considered as isolated. Of the isolated people, we distinguished between those who were satisfied their life and those not ; 74.1% of isolated older people were categorized as satisfied with their isolation. Cox’s proportional hazard model revealed that isolated older people were 1.34 (95%CI : 1.18-1.53) times more likely to develop functional disability. Although the interaction effect between isolation and life satisfaction was not statistically significant, satisfied isolation in older men was associated with 1.27 (95%CI : 1.02-1.58) times higher risk of functional disability than those who were not isolated. Satisfied isolation was also attributable to 11,000 cases of functional disability annually for the older Japanese population.

  It has been reported that the social participation of the elderly differs in terms of gender and residence area. As little is known about the influence of past social participation experience on present participation, this study aims to determine whether individual experience during a certain period in the past and overall past social participation experience have a positive influence on present social participation. In 2008, the authors conducted a questionnaire survey in Nerima Ward and Okayama City on probability samples of people in their fifties and sixties. The response rate was 58.9%. About 25% of the men in Nerima had no social participation experience from their childhood to the present. Logistic regressions were conducted by residence area. Okayama City respondents’ social participation after graduating from school showed the strongest relation to their present social participation. A comparison of the two areas revealed that the influence of past experience and demographic factors such as education and financial status were more pronounced among Nerima Ward respondents. This shows that past experience significantly influences present social participation. This is most evident in men living in urban areas, which implies that a lack of past experience is a preventive factor for retired men.

  Objective: To design, implement and verify the efficacy of an original stress management education program for certified care workers that is presented in a large-scale lecture format and is based on content that promotes conceptual understanding. Method : A questionnaire survey was conducted before, immediately after and one-month after program implementation with 69 students on a 2-year care worker training course who participated in the program and 185 non-participant control subjects. Results: Two-way repeated measures and analysis of variance revealed an interaction between survey timing and program participation regarding self-efficacy. Self-efficacy increased in the participation group immediately after program implementation but this decreased to pre-participation levels one month later. Conclusion: The present findings demonstrate the efficacy of the program. However, in order to ensure that post-intervention effects become firmly established, it is necessary to develop a long-term support program to be implemented over a fixed follow-up period.