Wisdom to make communication resilient to the crisis: Learning from a Japanese community and social worker

Abstract

Isolation is one of the most critical factors related to older people’s health. However, to prevent COVID-19, community socialisation among the elderly has halted. Because of older people’s limited access to information technology, they cannot maintain external communication easily, and even several weeks of isolation from others could be detrimental to their health. How we sustain communication with and among the elderly is currently and will continue to be a considerable challenge in community work in Japan. In addition to contextualised information on Japanese community care for social welfare before and after the pandemic, the case of a social worker and her community is introduced. From her practices, wisdom in communication processes that can make communities more resilient to crisis can be gained and be of use in Japan and other Asian countries.