Japan Justice Ministry eyeing dementia test for newly elderly inmates: sources

January 21, 2018

Tokyo- Japan's Justice Ministry plans to conduct a simple dementia test from fiscal 2018 for newly imprisoned convicts aged 60 or over, informed sources have said.

With the proportion of elderly prisoners on the increase in the nation, the ministry aims to have inmates suffering dementia undergo necessary medical treatment through an early detection of their symptoms and to help prevent recidivism among such inmates after they are released from prison.

The dementia check will initially be conducted at eight prisons, and the ministry will consider carrying out the test at other prisons as well after an analysis of the results at the eight facilities, informed sources said.

The eight are the Sapporo prison in the city of Sapporo, Hokkaido, the Miyagi prison in the city of Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, the Fuchu prison in Tokyo, the Nagoya prison in the city of Miyoshi, Aichi Prefecture, the Osaka prison in the city of Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, the Hiroshima prison in the city of Hiroshima, the Takamatsu prison in the city of Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, and the Fukuoka prison in the town of Umi, Fukuoka Prefecture.

Through a survey carried out in 2015, the ministry has estimated the number of inmates aged 60 or over with signs of dementia at 1,300, or about 14 pct of all prisoners in the age group in the nation.

In the envisioned test, prison officers will check elderly inmates' memory and ability to calculate, and inmates suspected with falling cognitive functions will undergo an examination by a doctor, the sources said.

Depending on the progress in symptoms, prison work of dementia sufferers will be switched to lighter one. A dementia-related training program will be offered for prison officers, the sources said.

Inmates suspected with dementia will be encouraged to use a program under which applications for the use of welfare facilities and for welfare benefits will be made on their behalf when they are released from prison, according to the sources.

The ministry hopes that the use of the program will help ease a sense of isolation and financial concerns among such inmates after their release from prison, and therefore support their rehabilitation into society and prevent them from committing crime again, the sources said.

According to a recent annual government report, 2,498 people aged 65 or over were imprisoned in 2016, up about 4.2-fold from the level in 1997. Of former inmates in the age group, 70.2 pct were put into prison again. The rate was higher than the 59.5 pct for all generations. Jiji Press