Enabling elderly, even those with Dementia to contribute to society

The 43 year old President of this home got his inspiration when he was working at a special elderly care centre. He did not like that it was too efficiency-driven and not people-focused enough, resulting in a depressing atmosphere in the home in general. Although he tried changing the situation there, it did not work and his youthful gung-ho spirit drove him to set up this elderly home.

This home sits in the middle of a neighbourhood, with a publicly accessible road cutting between its premises, allowing kids and high school students alike to interact with the elderly there. For example some elderly see high school couples holding hands and go, “Oh I never did this during my time”. This promotes a natural intergenerational interaction and bonding.

The furniture and rooms are designed with special care as well. All walls and bed frames are made of solid wood, which help contribute to a general relaxing atmosphere in the room, as well as promoting stable blood pressure and encouraging blood circulation. Chairs, which are difficult even for young and healthy people to sit for long hours, are not used. Instead, sofas that contribute to a healthy posture and tatami mats are used.

Traditionally, elderly residents with dementia do not get to go outside much as there may be safety concerns. However, they believe that most people just want to do good, with or without dementia. Therefore, it allows its patients, even those with dementia, to be involved in community service activities, such as sweeping the shrines, to strengthen their sense of purpose in life. Instead of having specialised cleaners to take care of the home, elderly patients do it together. This, along with being involved in the community, give elderly a sense of satisfaction, improves their overall physical health and reduces their reliance on care.

This operator does not believe in treating persons with dementia differently from normal elderly people. It wants to allow even patients with dementia to live independently, which it feels is the best approach to care for them. Therefore, it taps on each patient’s strengths, mostly skills acquired from their past, be it gardening or cleaning, to get them in various community service roles. They hope to eventually have elderly who are “cool” enough to say that they can be totally self-reliant and not in need of care.

Many of their elderly patients have unpleasant histories, like family violence, abandonment, and their conditions make them unable to be accepted by most nursing homes. This operator does not believe that it is doing anything special, rather it just gives some clients the opportunity to make use of their skills and interests that they acquired in the past.

They do not have a set manual for staff to take care of its patients. It only emphasises on building a strong relationship with its patients, and improving their general quality of life. Because of that, staff have the freedom to use whatever approaches they feel suit the needs of the patients they are taking care of.

On top of that, they do not set any baseline for its number of staff. It believes that when a strong relationship is built with patients, even without 1 to 1 care, there will be equally smooth and positive experiences for its patients.

Although most nursing homes still do not accept or adopt their approaches, it believes that as more new people get into the care business, mindsets will slowly change. As of now, studies are still undergoing by Shizuoka University.

This operator has some future development plans. It plans to build a shared house for single mothers to work in while their children spend play time with the elderly. Additionally, it wants to set up community restaurants for its elderly to work in. With the support of various people, a warm residential area is established. As more people than ever start to age, they hope that its model of care can be spread to the rest of the country in the future.

If you join AAIF in Japan visit 2017, you may have a chance to visit them. Limited seats left.