韓国と日本における認知症対策の比較

Abstract

This study compares and analyzes the support schemes for dementia patients recently promoted in South Korea and Japan. The findings show that the policies in South Korea and Japan have the following characteristics and similarities. First, the support schemes in both countries are being promoted as part of nationwide anti-dementia strategies, and consist of contents that conform to the Global Action Plan on dementia (7 principles) proposed by the WHO. Second, in the case of South Korea, dementia-related projects are mainly promoted by the unified organizations under the Ministry of Health and Welfare (Central Dementia Center-Wide Area Dementia Center-Dementia Relief Center). On the contrary, in the case of Japan, local governments have individually established their own agencies that can account for regional characteristics. Third, with regard to the area of medical treatment, South Korea has a well-established program for early-stage diagnosis of dementia while the support afterwards is less prepared. In the case of Japan, in addition to the establishment of an early-stage diagnosis scheme, an array of policies are actively implemented to respond to behavioral and psychological symptoms and somatic complications caused by　dementia so as not to overload hospital capacity and admission to facility can be postponed as much as possible. Fourth, social insurance have been established for long-term care in both countries, but dementia-related programs for long-term care in the two countries show differences. South Korea is promoting policies to loosen the criteria for long-term care eligibility, thereby expanding the subjects with dementia while quantitatively expanding home care support. On the other hand, Japan has been promoting the expansion of the subjects of long-term care service and home care service since the 1990s. In recent years, rather than quantitative expansion of services, Japan has been focusing on building a 24-hour 365-day support system by developing diverse services that meet the needs of users so that they can live as part of the community as much as possible even if they suffer from dementia.