Bed-ridden elderly in Japan: social progress and care for the elderly

The demand for health care and social welfare services for the elderly has increased and in Japan, there is a need in the social system to improve the quality of life, especially for those who are disabled. This article directs attention to bed-ridden elderly persons from the standpoint of social problems attending economic development and population changes based on data from Japan, the United States, Sweden, and OECD countries. Compared to the United States, there are more bed-ridden elderly in Japan, and inadequate public resources for caring. Physicians, nurses, care workers, and rehabilitation specialists such as physiotherapist and occupational therapist per 1000 aged sixty-five or over are 89.5 in Japan while 237.4 in Sweden. Japan has the fewest such health and welfare personnel among developed countries. Even with increases in such personnel through the New Gold Plan, future increase in aged population would off-set the effect and the problem of providing care for the elderly remains.