On October 26 project leader Prof. Hidehiko Ichimura delivered a presentation at the Chofu City Hall.
Chofu City is an administrative unit within the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. It is one of the ten areas where our project is implementing the Japanese Study on Aging and Retirement (JSTAR).
Prof. Ichimura informed the attending local government officials about the historical background of JSTAR and the economic and social benefits it brings by collecting panel data on the elderly, and presented survey findings on the wealth, social participation, health condition and health expenditure of the Japanese elderly, with a focus on Chofu City residents.
As regards health, JSTAR collects data on activities in daily life, instrumental activities in daily life, depression, blood pressure, incidence of diabetes, whether the respondent requires nursing care or not, and health expenditure. Thus, in addition to wealth and social participation, Prof. Ichimura's presentation compared findings from the previous survey round on the above-mentioned indicators of health for Chofu with other administrative units while analyzing the link between the health condition and the family composition of the respondents, thus offering Chofu officials clues that could help them tailor city services so that they better fit the needs of the local elderly population.