Creating a supportive local community

Suzuki: From the perspective of helping each other, the promotion of community-based comprehensive care is a major direction for future medical care. In the future, we cannot expect the economic development that we had in the past. Therefore, we cannot increase the huge medical expenses we currently have. I think it is better to refrain from expensive medical care for our descendants. Given this situation, disease prevention and care are becoming more and more important. I think that a new system of who cares for whom is a community-based comprehensive care. I think that creating a supportive local community is indispensable for aiming for a healthy and long-lived society.

Shimazono: It is said that the number of people with dementia will increase in the future, but not all people can be accepted at hospitals and long-term care facilities. It is necessary to create an environment where people can live together by making the entire community function like a group home. It is becoming a world where care, community, and human power are tested.
Caring for people who are in a difficult position in the community is not a one-way street of giving something, but I think that living with such people has a lot to gain. Even if a strong person seems to be helping a weak person, in reality, a weak person is often helping a strong person.