[Future issues for the long-term care insurance system in Japan]

Although the prevention and reduction of requirements for long-term care is one of the main aims of the long-term care insurance system, most of care-recipients have deteriorated in their certified care levels since the implementation of the system in 2000. Demands for services at facilities rather than in-home services are increasing. Waiting lists for public nursing homes are becoming longer and longer. Residential care in for-profit private homes is growing rapidly. Homicides of disabled older persons by their exhausted caregivers are still prevalent. Concerning these serious situations, retaining the human dignity of care-recipients should be the most essential issue of the long-term care insurance system.