Health care facilities for the elderly in Japan.

North America and Europe have been struggling with increasing elderly populations needing medical and personal care. Japan also has suddenly found itself faced with a rapidly expanding population of sick and disabled old people. Japan, however, has witnessed this dramatic increase in its aged population proceed at a rate almost twice that of any other industrialized nation. The very suddenness of the emergence of such a top-heavy population and the equally sudden changes in the family structure have placed great stresses on both the medical and social welfare systems of Japan. This study is, then, of the present state of facilities for the care of the elderly in Japan. As the United States is now grappling with the sheer bulk of its own Social Security and Medicare plans, this article casts a light for comparison on the care of the elderly in Japan. In Japan, as in the United States, major concerns focus on the short supply of trained personnel and the mushrooming costs of care. Moreover, the dependence of the Japanese medical system on the hospital has made some hospitals into warehouses for sick or disabled elderly, while not providing enough support for the elderly to remain active at home. Japan should carefully consider, therefore, diverting some funds from medical and hospital care to social welfare facilities and home care services.