Proposal of the elderly supporting system based on the perspective of local community in japan

Abstract

Because of the ageing society, the number of elderly deaths in isolation is increasing and becoming a major problem in Japan. We conducted a quantitative survey in the neighborhood associations to see the likelihood of ICT service introduction in the context of neighborhood monitoring to support the elderly who is living alone. Two local communities in Kawasaki city were selected and the questionnaire was distributed in every household of the associations (250~400 households). The result illustrated that there is a great interest of neighborhood monitoring in urban area contrary to our expectations. Both associations showed that the communities are ageing, however certain amount of residents are using smartphones even if they are categorized as the elderly. Therefore, we concluded the introduction of ICT for neighborhood monitoring in the area is possible.