EXCLUSIVE: Japan to Start Matching Project for Dementia Patients, Supporters

August 27, 2018

Toyko- Japan's welfare ministry plans to launch a project in fiscal 2019 to provide better aid to dementia patients by matching them with volunteer supporters, informed sources told Jiji Press.

The project will include providing subsidies to coordinators that connect dementia patients and their families with supporters.

The ministry plans to earmark necessary funds in its budget request for the year that begins next April, the sources said.

Prefectural governments will be in charge of the project. The ministry is considering allowing them to outsource it to local municipalities.

Anyone can become a dementia supporter after learning knowledge of the disease through training programs held across the country.

Some 10.37 million people were registered as dementia supporters as of the end of June. They use orange wristbands as a symbol for dementia support.

Although the number of supporters has been increasing, many of them have been inactive. The ministry expects the project to create more opportunities for supporters.

Support to patients with the early stages of dementia helps to prevent their conditions from worsening rapidly.

There were some 4.62 million dementia patients in Japan as of 2012, according to an estimate by the ministry. The number is projected to increase to some seven million in 2025. Jiji Press