A doctor invented a new approach to mental diseases and dementia of the elderly. It may prove very useful to Japan
Mr Matsuhashi listens to the elderly
Japan is greying. With ageing population rising faster than other advanced countries, dementia is increasing too. There were over 250 thousand people with dementia in 2010; it is expected to rise to 340 thousand in 2020. In Tohoku region, where the earthquake, tsunami and the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant occurred in March, there are between 6400 and 8400 people with the symptom, according to one estimate. Among victims are also those who want to heal their mental scares. How should Japan deal with dementia and healing of minds of the elderly? Reminiscence therapy (RT) in forests is a useful solution to those issues.
Read full article
Ryo Kubota is a staff writer at Transpheric Management in Tokyo as well as a freelance writer. He has covered Sports for the Nippon Newspaper Company in Tokyo and teaches at a private tutoring school in Iruma, Japan. Having studied in both Tokyo and England in the areas of sociology, he has a keen interest in the world at large.
