Meet our amazing community of eldercare workers!

Have you ever thought about working in eldercare? If you’re ready to start actually looking into this line of work, you’re likely curious about what nursing care settings are like and what the job really entails—and you’d probably like to start by meeting some people who already do it for a living!

If you already work in eldercare, you may be interested in joining a community of fellow professionals, learning about the strategies that are working in other settings, or getting advice on some of the challenges you face on the job.

That’s exactly why Mirai wo Tsukuru Kaigo Café created a space for people who share these concerns to get together and start a dialogue. Mirai wo Tsukuru Kaigo Café is a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing people together to talk about issues that affect eldercare, learn from each other, and foster positive interaction. Read on to learn about their online events!

[ Kaigo presentation night: Eldercare enriches a century of life ]

The nonprofit organization Mirai wo Tsukuru Kaigo Café holds an event called the Kaigo Café nearly every month to bring together people from a variety of fields, engaging them in conversation to share knowledge and foster new insights.

The December 2020 Kaigo Café was a collaborative event held in partnership with the Sankei Shimbun, which runs an online magazine with information on eldercare called YouYou Life. The title of the December event was “Kaigo presentation night: Eldercare enriches a century of life”, with eldercare businesses presenting activities and initiatives from various nursing care facilities.
This Kaigo Café event was held online, making a huge gathering possible with about two hundred participants from all over Japan!

~Five people present on love for the community and love for eldercare~

The title of this session was “Eldercare pride across Japan”. Presenters from five nursing care facilities from around Japan talked about the eldercare activities that spurred their communities into action. Every presentation incorporated signature strategies unique to that particular region.

The representative from Kagoshima City talked about their facility’s initiative to foster interaction between university students and the elderly. They were also engaged in initiatives that are open to the local community by holding collaborative events with the fire department, community support centers, social services councils, or other groups. By sharing time and space with senior citizens, everyone—including the eldercare workers and community members—was able to have fun together. The senior citizens got a chance to interact with people of their grandchildren’s age as well as generations they don’t normally have contact with right in their facility, which filled them with energy and brought smiles to their faces. The presentations revealed just how wonderful eldercare situations can be.

But things weren’t all serious… some included fun introductions to local products and other diversions that kept the sessions fun and bubbling along.

~Group sessions to promote deeper discussions~

Once the presentations were finished, participants split up into groups of four or five for discussions. During the group session, people shared what they thought about the presentations and had fun telling each other about the activities they were involved in at their own workplaces and communities.
Despite it being an online event, people didn’t just watch it—they actively shared information with one another, creating countless opportunities to gather new knowledge.

In addition to these group sessions, there was also a spinoff eldercare version of Suberanai Hanashi, a popular comedy series featuring funny stories from real life. Here, participants shared hilarious moments that could only happen at a nursing home, bringing the entire online group together in shared laughter. This part wasn’t just for laughs, though—the stories also revealed the warmth of people who are able to bring a playful heart to their work in eldercare.

~Using the community to bring people together~

We hope you enjoyed learning more about the “Kaigo presentation night: Eldercare enriches a century of life” online event, brought to you by the nonprofit organization Mirai wo Tsukuru Kaigo Café.

The nonprofit organization Mirai wo Tsukuru Kaigo Café holds a Kaigo Café event nearly every month. Join in to find out more about eldercare projects of all kinds and get a better sense of what the field is all about.
You can also visit the community site Kikkake YouYou Life run by the Sankei Shimbun to find more people involved in eldercare through their bulletin boards and more. It’s the perfect place for people interested in the nursing care field to connect with those who already work in eldercare.
Follow the links below if you’re interested in joining the community!

Fukushikaigo.jp also plans to run an article on the February 26 collaborative event between the nonprofit organization Mirai wo Tsukuru Kaigo Café and the Sankei Shimbun’s Kikkake Project. The event is titled “Mirai wo Tsukuru Online Café: We’re Shaping the Future!”. We hope you’ll check it out!

※About the nonprofit organization Mirai wo Tsukuru Kaigo Café
Mirai wo Tsukuru Kaigo Café was founded by certified care worker and manager Hisako Takase in 2012. Takase wanted to create an open forum that would help people take a step forward by providing opportunities for them to share their thoughts on a range of nursing care and healthcare topics that were important to them, without worrying about job positions or titles. Her vision led to a variety of other initiatives, including monthly café-style dialogue sessions in Tokyo, facilitator training, help with setting up café events, tie-up projects with other industries, and more. The café events are currently held via Zoom and provide a wealth of interesting information. (http://www.kaigocafe.com/)

※About the Kikkake YouYou Life project
Kikkake YouYou Life is an online community run by the Sankei Shimbun (https://www.beach.jp/circleboard/af08100/topictitle) that functions as a forum for bringing together eldercare professionals and everyday people involved in eldercare. The newspaper also publishes an online magazine called YouYou Life with information on the eldercare field (https://youyoulife.jp/), making it a great place to find out more about the profession.