Japan, PH sign cooperation project on care prevention for elderly

FILE: Japan (Photo by Ruth Hartnup/Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

MANILA — Japan and the Philippines will work closely on a project for cooperation supporting long-term care prevention for the elderly in the country.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) said the cooperation project, which is now on its second phase until 2020, aims to support the Philippines in crafting its own policies for the elderly and future senior citizens.

JICA and Japanese non-profit group Momotaro Kai Social Welfare Corporation are expanding their assistance on preventive care for more than 3,000 senior citizens and families in the municipality of Capas, Tarlac.

“Many countries in the world, Japan included, worry about population aging.

This means demand for health care for older citizens and providing them with care and support,” JICA Senior Representative Aya Kano said in a statement.

“Through this cooperation, we aim to share Japan’s experience and know-how on preventive health care,” he said.

The project aims to share Japan’s experiences and know-how on caring for the elderly.

“For the second phase of the project, we aim to hold seminars on long-term care prevention for the elderly and dispatch some staff from our town Kibichuo cho to share our experiences,” said Masanori Yamamoto, mayor of Kibichuo in Okayama Prefecture, Japan.

During the Phase 1 of the cooperation, which began in 2015, Momotaro Kai Social Welfare Corporation dispatched a care manager and nursing care supervisor in Capas to help create a nursing care prevention manual for the elderly.

The Municipal Social Welfare Development Office (MSWDO) and Office for Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA) in Tarlac, JICA and Momotaro Kai, will update the manual for long-term care prevention for elderly developed in the project’s first phase and capacity building of barangay leaders that will implement preventive care.

Aside from supporting senior citizens, JICA has been supporting the Philippine government’s vision of a better life for Filipinos through various grassroots cooperation projects with Japanese NGOs, to include eco-tourism promotion, training of social workers handling vulnerable children, and education access of marginalized communities in far-flung areas to name a few. (PNA)