Website of Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
In June, 2014, the results of the first survey were made public by Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare on those who are still missing and unable to return home from a place where they ended up.Main points of the results are as follows:
- Regarding the situation of unidentified persons in Japan
Regarding the situation of unidentified persons, one hundred and thirty nine (139) local government offices confirm that the number of the unidentified persons is 346 as of the end of May 2014 - Regarding the situation of missing persons in Japan
Regarding the situation of missing persons, those who were found out in the fiscal 2013 account for about 97 percent compared to the total missing persons confirmed by eight hundred and fifty five (855) local government offices in the 25th fiscal year of Heisei era.
The remainder 3% or so have not yet been discovered.
- There is a limit on the caring and watching by families.
There are an increasing number of such incidents that elderly persons with dementia are wandering, missing or involved in an accident and cases that their families in urban areas are worried about and watching for them in vain.There is a limit on the caring and watching by families.Local town municipalities in urban areas are now troubled over such situation that neighborly ties are becoming thin, although policies involving the areas are indispensable.“It may probably be impossible for the municipalities in big cities like Tokyo.”Nihon Keizai Shimbun of August 4, 2014
- Comprehensive strategy for the dementia and watching and caring in regions by the Government
On 27th day, the Government decided on a comprehensive strategy to be addressed across the ministries and agencies during conference of ministers concerned that was held to discuss measures for the dementia at prime minister’s office. The Government estimated that the number of persons with dementia would be about 7 million and one fifth of the elderly would be aged 65 or over in 2025.Centering on creating a region friendly to the parties in charge or families, the Government will start the measures and policies featuring the prevention and diagnosis of dementia as well as the improvement of its medical treatment system from the next fiscal year. (*snip*)A new strategy is “Dementia measures and policies promotion comprehensive strategy (Orange Plan)”.This supercedes the “Dementia measures and policies promotion 5-year plan (Orange Plan)” which Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry has been going ahead with since the 13th fiscal year. Prime Minister, Mr. Abe announced at the international conference for dementia held in last November that the Government had laid down this new strategy.The basic policy explicitly states that the Government aims to create a society where the persons with dementia are respected for their intention and able to live their own life under familiar environment on an ongoing basis.The person and family concerned will be examined for the needs of life, which will be reflected in the measures and policies.
The system for watching for, and discovering or protecting the persons with dementia who are missing will be improved across the country by combining the police and residents as an approach in the whole region.
Nihon Keizai Shimbun of January 27, 2015
Recently, our system has often been taken up on the newspaper and TV.
A place and scene where they are missing
A situation when they were found
A category of persons who discovered them
Based on the foregoing background information, we have come to the following conclusion:
- In the case of missing, chances are that they are patients cared for at home.
- As they tend to be going out and missing before anyone knew it, the start of search for them is often delayed.
- When they become unable to return home from a place where they ended up, they will often be taken into protective custody of police.
- If any QR code nail jell sticker that enables the confirmation of one’s identity is attached to fingernails or toenails when they are discovered by police, the police can inquire a contact organization (such as regional collective support centers and care houses) about their identity by reading a QR code on the sticker using a smartphone application.
- We have arranged our thoughts to decide that if the stickers are always attached to the nails or back, they will go out, wearing the stickers at all times, and this could be used as a last resort to confirm their identity.
- We have listened to the authorities such as police and fire stations about this system. We are told that a body check will be done to see if the person is injured when he or she is taken into custody for the first time.Many authorities had an opinion that if any QR code nail jell sticker with QR code (a registered trademark of DENSO WAVE INCORPORATED) printed is attached to the fingernails, toenails, or back, they will try to read this QR code using a smartphone application in order to take action promptly.