OMRON Corporation (HQ: Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto; President and CEO: Junta Tsujinaga) published on March 18, 2024, its findings from research/verification that it conducted together with the Japan Agency for Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES) and Nihon Fukushi University (NFU) to study the possibilities of reducing the risk of needing long-term care and optimizing long-term care benefit expenses^*.

As a chronic shortage of workers poses a challenge to the long-term care industry, OMRON has chosen “extending healthy life expectancy” as one of the social issues to be addressed in its long-term vision. In its endeavor to help the elderly in need of long-term care prevent disease and stay fit, in 2019, OMRON embarked on a self-reliance support project utilizing its information and communication technology (ICT).

In July 2020, OMRON and the Oita Prefectural Government signed a collaboration agreement to spread long-term care prevention services designed to support the self-reliance of the elderly (Oita Prefecture model project). The goal is to involve local municipalities in creating a community hub that supports the self-reliance of the residents, centering on Outpatient Day Service C (short-term, intensive long-term care prevention service). As part of this project, OMRON commissioned research/verification to determine the possibilities of reducing the risk of needing long-term care and optimizing long-term care benefit expenses in Taketa City, Oita Prefecture, to JAGES and NFU.

As one of the programs of the Comprehensive Services for Long-term Care Prevention and Daily Life Support (“Comprehensive Service”), Outpatient Day Service C is designed to support the self-reliance of people eligible for the Comprehensive Service and people certified as needing support by addressing their life issues. The number of elderlies needing long-term care in Japan keeps climbing, with the result that long-term care expenses topped 11 trillion yen in fiscal 2021, making it urgent to enhance such programs. If Outpatient Day Service C produces results, it is expected to have a preventative effect on long-term care as the daily functions of service recipients improve.

The verification compared a group of about 130 people who availed themselves of Outpatient Day Service C between fiscal 2016 and fiscal 2019 in Taketa City with a group of elderly who responded to a Health and Life study, which was instituted by JAGES in fiscal 2019, to determine the possibilities of reducing the risk of needing long-term care and optimizing long-term care benefit expenses. With regard to the risk of the group using the service needing long-term care, the study found that the percentages of those elderly who fall under each indicator in the basic checklist for evaluating decline in mental/physical functions improved by between 2% and 20% (Results #1). Likewise, long-term care benefit expenses for the group using the service were approximately 500,000 yen lower per person in total over three years and a month compared to the group not using the service in the same city (Results #2).

These findings revealed that Outpatient Day Service C helps lower the risk of its users needing long-term care and optimizes long-term care benefit expenses. Going forward, OMRON intends to continue with verification by, for instance, comparing the findings with the nationwide database on long-term care benefit expenses that JAGES and NFU used for the research/verification while taking one step further to determine which group of people felt the effect of lowering the risk of needing long-term care more.

* Calculated with reference to the “public long-term care claim records: total information records,” which include data on expenses for “long-term care benefits,” “prevention benefits,” and “comprehensive services that municipalities report to the respective Federation of National Health Insurance Associations,” but exclude data on expenses for “fully out-of-pocket long-term care-related services,” “long-term care prevention support / in-home long-term care support,” “purchase of welfare equipment,” and “home modification.”

Results #1: Reduction in the Risk of Needing Long-Term Care among Users of Outpatient Day Service C Before and After Using the Service

Basic checklist: A set of indicators presented by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
of Japan with which to evaluate the daily functions of the elderly (age 65 or over) based
on their mental/physical conditions. Used by municipalities across the country.

Results #2: Long-Term Care Benefit Expenses Per Person of the Group of Users of the Service Over the Three Years Were Approx. 0.5 million Yen Lower than Those of the Group Not Using the Service

The difference between the cumulative amount of long-term care benefit expenses for the Group not using the service and that for the Group using the service is greater in the third year than in the first and the second years, leading us to believe that the effect of optimized long-term care benefit expenses begins to be felt significantly in the third year and beyond.

The Japan Agency for Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES)
https://www.jages.net/

Nihon Fukushi University
https://www.n-fukushi.ac.jp/

About OMRON Corporation
OMRON Corporation is a leading automation company with core competencies in its proprietary Sensing & Control + Think technology and is engaged in a wide range of businesses, including industrial automation, healthcare, social systems, and device & module solutions. Established in 1933, OMRON has about 30,000 employees worldwide, working to provide products and services in more than 130 countries. For more information, please visit https://www.omron.com/global/en/

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JAGES, Nihon Fukushi University, and OMRON Report on the Verification Outcome of the Effectiveness of Outpatient Day Service C in Taketa City, Oita Prefecture, on Reduction of Long-Term Care Risk and Optimization of Long-Term Care Expenditures