Assistant Secretary for Aging Carbonell Shares U.S. Home- and Community-Based Care Best Practices at Symposium in Nagoya, Japan

HHS Assistant Secretary for Aging, Josefina G. Carbonell, and Mr. Shinji Asonuma, Director-General, Bureau for the Elderly, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare

HHS Assistant Secretary for Aging, Josefina G. Carbonell, visits a Sun-Life Social Welfare Corporation long-term care facility with the administrator, Mrs. Matsui, and Sun-Life’s CEO, Dr. Teruhisa Mokuno.

Delegates from the United States, Japan, Australia, and Canada who attended the symposium.

April 20, 2007 – Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) for Aging, the Honorable Josefina G. Carbonell, visited Japan earlier this month to discuss how the United States is modernizing its long-term care system.  Sharing U.S. best practices in long-term care and care for aged populations is part of the Secretary Leavitt’s global health diplomacy. 

On April 5, 2007, the Assistant Secretary delivered keynote remarks at a symposium entitled “Baby Boomers Ageing in the World: Challenges and Policies.”  This symposium marked the 20th anniversary of the host organization, Sun-Life Social and Welfare Organization, a Japanese non-profit organization, which is a trailblazer in providing long term care services to the elderly.

Japan is facing the challenge of a rapidly aging population, and is interested in learning from the best practices of other countries, especially in the area of home- and community-based care.  Today, over 20 percent of the Japanese population is aged 65 or older.  Life expectancy at birth now approaches 82 years - the highest among the world’s more developed countries.  By 2030, demographers expect nearly 24 percent of all older Japanese are expected to be at least 85 years old. 

Assistant Secretary Carbonell addressed over 400 Japanese policy-makers, researchers and service providers at the symposium.  She discussed key strategies used in the United States to modernize long-term care to reduce costs and increase access to home- and community based services rather than rely on institutional care.  These strategies include improving consumers’ access to information about available services, empowering families to give them more control over the public services they receive, and encouraging the elderly to make behavioral changes to reduce the risk of disease and disability.  She also highlighted President Bush’s signing of the Older Americans Act Amendments of 2006 and the strengthening of Federal and State partnerships.

While in Japan, Assistant Secretary Carbonell also met with the Director-General of the Health and Welfare Bureau for the Elderly, Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare to discuss the implementation of the mandatory Japanese Long-Term Care Insurance system, and to discuss her experiences dealing with disasters and mass evacuations.  She also had the opportunity to visit Sun-Life long-term care and adult day care facilities, where she viewed some of the advanced and creative technologies used to assist in caregiving. 

Last revised: October 10, 2007