Representative Patterns
FACILITY INFORMATION
01. Create a Role
02. Open Up to the Community
Foundation: 2001
Number of Staff:
Number of Users:
SERVICE CATEGORY
LOCATION
O1. Create a Role
"Please wait a moment. Is it really dangerous to let elderly people do something? It's far more dangerous to give a hatchet to a young person who has never used one. Even with a kitchen knife, someone who has spent many years in the kitchen will handle it more skillfully, quickly, and safely than someone who has rarely cooked. Even with dementia, procedural memory is one of the last things to fade. It’s something the body remembers through long-standing habits."
The person doing the pruning at AOICARE used to be a gardener. The person managing the candy shop is someone who actually ran a candy store. The same applies to tire changes.
02. Open Up to the Community
"Neighbors like aunties and kids often come in to have tea or play... Is it a community center? A playground? Whatever it is, we welcome everyone. We cook meals together, play with the dog, go shopping... Time passes by so quickly."
The physical "walls" surrounding the property were truly removed. The land where AOICARE is located is situated between a residential area and a national highway. By removing the wall, children from the neighborhood and office workers who used to take a long detour to reach the main road now pass through the property as a shortcut.
Additionally, AOICARE has set up a traditional pit latrine and a pond within the property. The facility includes a wooden deck and is designed to encourage a sense of exploration, with a pathway around the building that leads up to the roof. Furthermore, beside the entrance to the facility is a bookshelf filled with manga, and there is also a candy shop. Children read manga while waiting for their friends in the morning, and on their way home, they buy sweets from the candy shop and interact with the elderly residents, making this a daily routine. The second floor of the facility is rented out to the local community, serving as a gathering space for local mothers, and is also used for calligraphy classes taught by the elderly to children.
Through these activities, natural exchanges occur between the elderly, children, their parents, and daily interactions, information exchanges, and discussions about parenting across generations take place.
Types of Services
Group Home
Currently, seven elderly people with dementia are living together in a joyful community, with the pet Chihuahua of one resident.
Small-Scale Multifunctional Care
A comprehensive service that combines functions such as "day services," "home care services," and "short-stay services" (temporary overnight care). It is a multifunctional, integrated service. The monthly fee remains fixed regardless of the number of times the services are used.
Introduction of the CEO
Tadasuke Kato
President & CEO, AOICARE Co., Ltd.
Born in 1974. After graduating from the Department of Social Welfare at Tohoku University of Community Service and Science, he joined a special nursing home in Yokohama. At the age of 25, he started his own business, launching the "Group Home Yui" and "Day Service Idobata." In 2007, he began to fully establish small-scale multifunctional in-home care services. Aoi Care's initiatives have been featured in numerous media outlets, and in 2019, he was selected as one of the "Ageing Asia Global Ageing Influencers," recognizing him as one of the most influential leaders shaping aging in the Asia-Pacific region.