7. |
The Care for the Elderly by the Private Body |
The LDP ( Liberal Democratic Party) has been the ruling
party in Japan after the Second World War. In Japan the care by the private
bodies ( including the family) , instead of the care by the official sector, has been emphasized.
7.1 |
The Difference of the Meaning of "Private" in both
countries |
In Sweden the word "Private" has a wide
meaning and means "not Public". So the care by the non-profit organization is called "Private" also.
But in Japan "Private" usually means
the care by the business catering for the elderly. For example, most of the Japanese old age homes and nursing homes are run by the non-profitable organization so called "welfare organization", but
it is called "public service", because they get the subsidy of
the running cost and cons t ruction cost s from t he government.
Moreover
the Ministry of Health and Welfare decide the guideline of the institution and subsidizes the running cost.
There are some kinds of care by the
"private"(=not public) bodies in Japan as follows;
7.2 |
The Care by the Family |
In
Japan the care by the family is not called "private". But this service is not "public" care, so I would like to mention
to it here.
In Japan the social service (welfare) is regarded as
only for the poor people. And in the past majority of the Japanese people believed
that it was quite natural that the family took care of the elderly.
But for the last ten years the care by the families
have become more and more difficult.
The reasons are as follows;
-
More and more women have job recently.
-
More and more elderly live longer.
-
The ratio of the elderly who live with their children have
decreased rapidly especially at the big cities and the ratio
of the elderly who live alone have increased.
-
The elderly generation and their children's generation want
to be more independent each other.
It
is interesting that the Japanese society is becoming more similar to the Swedish society. I think that the current situation in Japan is similar to that in 1950's - 60's in Sweden.
In Japan, the elderly have been seen as weaklings,
dependent on their offspring. The nation's continuing prosperity, however, is encouraging more and more people to depend on less on their children
and to spend their final years doing whatever they want to do. Every year, a growing number of elderly tourists travel overseas -and if they can do that, they can certainly live on their own.
A 1992 survey conducted by the Management and
Coordination Agency (MCA) found that 60%
of all Japanese in their sixties would prefer -if and when the need arises -to be cared for by professionals.
Most said they would not want to trouble their
families, or that their families could not provide the adequate care.
And the reality of the care by the families has been
becoming worse and worse every year. As an alternative for the care by the
families the business catering for the elderly been introduced in Japan.
|