Aspects of Community Mental Health Care of the Elderly in Japan

Community mental health care in Japan is now just in the developmental stage, and lack of a systematic policy for care of the mentally ill elderly in the community is one of the primary concerns. The rate of increase in the number of elderly people in Japan (in 1972 the average life span was 72.69 years for males and 77.95 years for females) has been about three to four times faster than that in Western nations, and there has been a corresponding increase in the number of mentally disordered elderly (Kaneko, 1975). In light of these circumstances, I shall focus on the major concerns in mental health care of the elderly in Japan and discuss a number of factors that could contribute to the sound development of this care in the future, especially in terms of services in the home.