AHWIN RESEARCH

A phone survey of older people and coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Indonesia was conducted as a joint project by ERIA, Bappenas, and SurveyMETER to assess the knowledge of COVID-19 among older people, compare the welfare and health status of older people before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and identify the policies required to mitigate the impact on them.

Researchers are examining the international harmonization of national qualification frameworks for long-term care workers, focusing on Japan, the Philippines, and Indonesia. Although Japan welcomes care workers from abroad, it remains unclear how best to identify their level within the Japanese qualification framework. Care workers in origin countries are also often confused about their professional rank in the receiving country. This project will clarify how the origin country estimates the competency of migrating workers using its national qualification framework, how Japan estimates the competency of invited workers, and how the origin country estimates the competency of care workers returning from Japan.

Building on an earlier study on "The Demand and Supply of Long-Term Care for Older Persons in Asia," this project will survey sources of information on health and long-term care, including censuses, vital statistics, household surveys, and statistics based on administrative records. The findings will be used to clarify health needs and the state of long-term care in the region.

To address Thailand’s rapid aging, the Center of Excellence for Ageing Business and Care Development at Thammasat University will undertake a broad research program to examine the history of Thai policies on population aging, develop policy recommendations on the elderly in the informal sector, analyze consumption behavior among the elderly to improve their financial choices, and examine trends in the aging-related market and innovations that will allow older citizens to enjoy healthy aging and contribute to the economy longer.

The goal of this study is to clarify the structural and procedural factors associated with the sustainment or improvement of residents’ care-need levels in long-term care facilities. Residents in long-term care facilities, day-service users, and day-care users will be included in this research. Statistical analyses will be carried out by combining national long-term care insurance claim data, vital statistics data, and a survey of institutions and establishments for long-term care.

Mankind has achieved a remarkable level of longevity, and as a result, the number of senior citizens in societies around the globe will grow in the near future. But can we call it “success” if longevity leads to restraints on the vibrancy or vitality of humanity? This longitudinal study traces 12,000 seniors in the Philippines and Vietnam who are aged 60 years or older for a number of years to analyze the factors that contribute to a longer healthy life.

The circulation of the long-term care workforce is recognized as one of the most important topics under the framework of the Asia Health and Wellbeing Initiative (AHWIN). This project seeks to develop a training program for oral care and swallowing function rehabilitation that can be used by trainees heading to Japan as predeparture training and that can also contribute to educating health care workers in the sending countries.

Japan’s Technical Intern Training Program has recently been amended to include trainees in the field of elderly care. The aim of this shift is both to ease Japan’s care worker shortage, but also to transfer care skills and knowledge from Japan to the trainees’ home countries, which are mainly Asian countries. But to meet those goals, trainees must have sufficient Japanese language skills. This study will seek to develop criteria for Japanese language proficiency testing that is specifically designed for care workers.

As Asian societies experience increased aging, the flow of nurses and care workers between countries will become increasingly necessary to meet the demand in advanced aging countries. This research project examines the case of Filipino, Indonesian, and Indian nurses and care workers who are working overseas to better understand the flow of human resources in the nursing and elderly care sector.

The government of Japan's framework to accept more caregivers from Southeast Asia as technical intern trainees assumes that Japan lacks the necessary care workforce while the economies of Southeast Asia have workforce redundancies, but there is currently little data to back that assumption. This research will produce estimates of the supply and demand for long-term care personnel in each economy, which will facilitate policymaking on the international circulation of the care workforce and improvements to the elderly care system.

Brain injury impairs physical functions and activities of daily living (ADL), and thus it often results in the need for long-term care. Societies facing rapid aging are expected to see a greater number of patients with brain injury (e.g., stroke) as compared to societies with younger populations given the accumulation of risk factors as individuals age. This study examines whether Japanese-style rehabilitation can contribute to the prevention of impairment of physical function and activities of daily living (ADL) for patients with brain injuries in Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Vietnam.