INSIDE DOUGLAS COLLEGE / MAY 28, 1991

 

 

Caring for the elderly, Japanese style

i ow can ancient traditions of
venerating the elderly keep
pace with new social pressures in
Japan, the world’s most successful
industrial power? And what can
North Americans, increasingly con-
cerned with caring for our own
aging population, learn from ex-
amples and experiences in Japan?

Douglas College instructor
Janet Greenhow will examine
those issues when she travels to
Japan for a series of information-
exchange seminars in June and
July. Greenhow, the college’s Long
Term Care convenor, is a recipient
of the first B.C. Asia Pacific
Awards, presented to community
college students and instructors by
the Ministry of Advanced Educa-
tion. Douglas College student
Erynn Evans is already studying a
Japanese language course at the
Kobe YMCA College after receiv-
ing a one-year scholarship.

Greenhow, who has studied
gerontological programs
throughout North America and
the United Kingdom, is eager to
view how a nation renowned for
technological innovation responds
to social challenges. As Japan
grows wealthier, a family structure
that remained essentially unal-
tered for centuries is quickly
changing.

“The traditional kinds of family
support for the elderly in Japan is
declining. The percentage of eldest
sons who are having their parents

 

 

 

Long Term
Care
convenor
Jan
Greenhow
is off to
Japan as a
recipient of
a B.C. Asia
Pacific
award.

 

 

live with them is falling every
decade,” says Greenhow. “It has to
do with the changing lifestyle of
the middle generation, of the
demands you get with more ad-
vanced technology and the need
for mobility.”

Also intriguing Greenhow is a
much elusive concept: under-
standing the mindset of retiring
Japanese who must deal with their
new lifestyles. Some workers shift
to less-demanding jobs, and there
is a growing acceptance of the im-
portance of volunteer work. Still,
even these are major changes for a

 

 

 

 

 

 

generation whose work ethic
propelled its economy to a posi-
tion of international prominence.
“The Japanese view of the in-
dividual in society, in terms of the
sacrifices they are willing to make,
is very different from ours. Iam
studying this area by reading
some Japanese scholars who are
working on these concepts and ex-
plaining them so they can be un-
derstandable in the western
experience. The ideas are very sub-
tle.”

While she is busy observing,
and hopefully finding time to visit
some kabuki and Noh theatres,
Greenhow will also present a
series of seminars for her hosts.
Topics include the implications of
legislative policy for care of the
elderly, and standards for the train-
ing of long term care paraprofes-
sionals.

Greenhow’s itinerary in Japan
will be full, and she’s expecting
the unexpected. “I’m sure there
will be some surprises,” she says.
“Tt will take a long time to assimi-
late the experience and it is some-
thing that will change over time
after I get back.”