POLEPOLE February, 2010
1. NEWS AND INFORMATION
l “Kao gets special royal treatment at Nobel Awards Ceremony”
(South China Morning Post, December 11, 2009)
l “Non- heterosexual Dementia”
(Australian Ageing Agenda, November 24, 2009)
2. AAJ headquarters update
l AAJ is preparing a new proposal on the revision of long–term care insurance in 2012 to the government. It will be announced at the coming general meeting in June.
l AAJ made a proposal to the government to seriously deliberate on the certification of care needs before the next revision of the law and to reflect both the opinion of persons with dementia and persons involved in dementia care.
3.Professional’s comment
“To continue living at home” By K. Tawaratsumita
4. Letters from Members
l My mother in law had been wandering around every day and night and I had burned out in those days. Now she has become bedridden because of falling. People sympathize with my burden of care but I feel much better than in those days. Using services under the Long-term insurance, I can work part-time and enjoy my own life. I am thankful for her progression of dementia and decay of physical functions.
(53-year-old woman)
l My wife has been living in a private nursing home for two years. The staff in charge of her changes every two or three months and care for her is apt to be insufficient. The working conditions of professional caregivers should be improved or else the shortage of manpower in the nursing care field will never be filled.
5. My opinion on the social security
By Y. Shito, certified social worker
“Japan is facing an aging society with fewer children, a situation which no other countries have ever faced. Considering this situation, I suggest the social security system based on the benefit principle + the ability-to-pay principle. And the key point of the system is that the co-payment should be set at affordable rates for everyone according to each person’s pension.”
Moreover, I suggest two more points on social security issues. The first is to simplify the existing system, which is too complicated to understand for almost all elderly people and their families. The second is to teach about the social security system in compulsory education in order to avoid suffering a loss by ignorance of the system.
6. Activities of the Chapters From the north to the south
7. TWo heads are better than one- Questions and Answers on dementia care-
<Question>
My 85-year-old mother was diagnosed with dementia five years ago. Her feeding difficulty is getting more severe. In the past six months she has been admitted to the hospital twice because of aspiration pneumonia and her home doctor suggests percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy. My mother cannot decide by herself so family members must make the decision. We don’t know whether to have it done or not.
8. Global family
“Elderly care in Myanmar (Burma)”
9. essay
By T. Machinaga, TV announcer
10. Message from PWDs
11. President’s Message
Take heart and take care till next month!
