Considering Sustainable Health care From the Frontline in an Aging Society With a Declining Birthrate
- VernacularTitle:少子高齢化の先進地から持続可能な医療を考える
- Author:
Akira KAMIYA
1
Author Information
- From:Journal of the Japanese Association of Rural Medicine 2024;72(6):445-452
- CountryJapan
- Language:Japanese
- Abstract: Kitaakita Municipal Hospital is located in Kitaakita City in the northern inland area of Akita Prefecture. When I started my new post at the former JA Akita Koseiren Hokusyu Central Hospital in 2002, there were two other hospitals in the area. Both were small to medium-sized hospitals with management problems and a shortage of doctors. Kitaakita City, which was already experiencing a wave of declining birthrates and an aging population, recognized the need for functional integration of its three hospitals, and in 2010, under the designated administrator system, established Kitaakita Municipal Hospital as an institution founded by the city and administered by JA Akita Koseiren. The Kitaakita district, located in a rural part of Akita Prefecture far from the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, can be seen as a forerunner of where Japan is headed in the future. The theme of this conference is “Healthcare in an Aging Society with a Declining Birthrate: Make Akita Bloom” and is intended to help people think about how to develop sustainable health care in an era of declining birthrates and aging populations. Japan's population has entered a phase of decline, with an aging society and a declining birthrate. It is expected that elderly patients will continue to account for larger proportions of hospitalized patients into the future. As more and more patients become frail and show signs of senility, it is necessary to train general practitioners who are able to treat patients systemically. Also, as the number of patients requiring high levels of nursing care increases, the hospitalization system must be improved so that it can accommodate them. Although the differentiation and concentration of healthcare functions is necessary to maintain the quality of healthcare amid a declining population, especially in rural areas, we continue to need hospitals that treat the elderly as well as a healthcare system that fully accounts for comprehensive community-based care.
