After the visit to the nursing home in Japan
In mid-February 2023, Yuko, the president of Nikoniko Home Care, visited Japanese group homes, small-scale multifunctional in-home care settings, and a group home for older adults. According to the director of the group home, the number of group homes that respond to dementia will increase in the future, and the number will be equivalent to that of local junior high schools in Japan. In fact, according to the 2018 statistics, the number of junior high schools nationwide was 10,222, while the number of group homes exceeded 13,000. In short, the group home is recognized as a necessary infrastructure in Japan.
In contrast, the number of group homes for people with dementia in Canada is zero. That’sYuko was once again convinced that the group home Nikoniko is creating in Burnaby is the right path. In addition, there were many options for the care services in Japan. In response to the grand theme of living in a home everyone desires and is as familiar with as possible, a system allows seniors to live at home almost until the end of their life by skillfully combining day services, home visits, and short stays. 39% of small, multifunctional service users live alone, and by taking a bath twice a week and having lunch and dinner at the facility, they can live independently at home.
What a fantastic system in Japan! On the other hand, when living at home in Canada is judged challenging, seniors are told to enter a facility. There are not enough services for “day service, home visit, short stay,” and it does not comprehensively support a way of life that is unique to that person = feeling alive “IKIGAI.” Once again, Yuko realized that Canadians have not yet entered the “ideal elderly care” Nikoniko envisions, let alone halfway through. That’s why Nikonioko’s lifelong mission is to practice and establish a comprehensive home-based model like Japan here in Vancouver.
Even though where the elders lived was different, the smiles of the elders Yuko met at the Japanese facilities and the devotion and efforts of caregivers were the same. When Yuko told everyone she was from Canada, they welcomed her warmly with shining eyes. Let Nikoniko bridge Canada and Japan and create better options for Canadian seniors.