【2024. 2. 8】読売新聞の英字ニュース（The Japan News）で当プロジェクトが紹介されました！/ SMART & STRONG Project introduced on "The Japan News" by The Yomiuri Shimbun

2024-02-08 2024-04-06

smart-strong-pro

Thitinan Nakphu, right, a doctor from Thailand, visits a hospital in Iruma, Saitama Prefecture, in November to learn about Japan’s nursing care. / 日本の高齢者ケアを学ぶため、11月に埼玉県入間市の病院を訪れたタイ、ブンイトー市の医師、ティティナン・ナクプーさん（右）

2024年2月8日、読売新聞の英字新聞「The Japan News」にて、SMART & STRONGプロジェクトや、パトムタニ県ブンイトー市の高齢ケアの取り組み、ブンイトー市で医師として活躍するティティナン・ナクプ氏が参加した訪日研修の様子などが紹介されました。

当該記事は下記リンクからご覧いただけます。

タイトル「タイや他のアジア諸国から関心を集める日本の高齢者介護サービス」

ニュース記事の暫定日本語訳：

タイでは、日本からヒントを得た取り組みがいくつか始まっている。

バンコクから車で1時間ほどのところにあるブンイトー市では、2022年5月から「認知症カフェ」というプログラムが始まった。月に一度、カフェや公共施設などで開催され、認知症の人やその家族が集まり、介護ボランティアとゲームやおしゃべりを楽しむ。

ブンイトー市はまた、地元の高校で「認知症サポーター」を養成するプログラムも開始した。認知症プログラムは、2019年に同市の幹部職員が、横浜を拠点にアジア各地の地域づくりを支援する団体「野毛坂グローカル」の招きで来日したことがきっかけであった。

同団体は、神奈川県湯河原町役場や地域の介護施設と連携し、タイの関係者に高齢者介護や健康増進の分野でのアドバイスをしている。

国際協力機構（JICA）の一員としてアジア各国で駐在・活動していた野毛坂グローカル代表の奥井利幸氏によると、高齢者介護施設の入所者の約半数が認知症であることがわかり、タイの地方自治体は認知症対策への関心を高めているという。認知症患者への支援策など、地域に根ざした高齢者ケアを推進するため、タイでは26の自治体からなるネットワーク「SMART ＆ STRONG プロジェクト」が構築されている、と奥井氏は付け加え、「タイは、認知症の住民をサポートするコミュニティの作り方について、日本の経験から学ぶことができます」と語った。

On 8 February 2024, The Japan News, an English-language newspaper by the Yomiuri Shimbun, introduced this SMART & STRONG project, the elderly care initiatives in Bueng Yitho Municipality, Pathum Thani Province, and the visit to Japan attended by Dr. Thitinan Nakphu, a medical doctor in Thailand.

The article is available to read from the following URL below.

One of the visitors, Thitinan Nakphu, a doctor from Thailand, said she was impressed to see how people with dementia are supported in their community, as well as close cooperation between a hospital and a long-term care facility. Her country, she said, is facing an aging population at an accelerated rate, but a sufficient support system has not been established for the older population as it is still in the phase of economic development.

“I think Japanese services cater to the needs of local residents,” Nakphu said. “I hope we can incorporate the best parts of Japanese care services into our operations in Thailand.”

A few initiatives inspired by Japan have been started in Thailand.

In Bueng Yitho, a city of about 35,000 about an hour’s drive from Bangkok, a “memory cafe” program started in May 2022. The program is held once a month at a cafe or a public facility, where people with dementia and their families gather to enjoy playing games and having chats with volunteer caregivers.

The Bueng Yitho municipal government has also begun a program to train “dementia supporters” at a local high school so that students can help residents with the condition in their community if necessary. The memory cafe program was introduced after senior officials at the municipal government visited Japan in 2019 to observe a similar program. They were invited by Nogezaka Glocal, a Yokohama-based organization that supports community building in various parts of Asia. The organization provides Thai officials with advice in the fields of elderly care and health promotion by working with the town government of Yugawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, and local nursing care facilities.

Local Thai governments have increased interest in dementia measures after they found that about half the residents of their elderly care facilities have the disease, according to Toshiyuki Okui, a representative of Nogezaka Glocal who used to work in other Asian countries for the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

A network of 26 municipalities in Thailand has been created to promote community-based elderly care, such as support measures for people with dementia, Okui added. “Thailand can learn from Japan’s experience about how to build communities that can support residents with dementia,” he said.
"Japan Elderly Care Services Drawing Interest from Thailand, Other Asian Nations" by Etsuo Kono / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer