Research Outcomes

Summary:

As part of Project CHANGE's activities, an idea presentation session for caring for the elderly, particularly those with dementia, was held at Kawasaki Municipal Takatsu High School.

Aiming to foster students' “care capabilities” for an era where “everyone cares for and is cared for,” the event targeted approximately 280 first-year students in the general studies program. It was conducted under the guidance of Professor Ayumi Igarashi from Chiba University's Graduate School of Nursing, one of the project members. Following a lecture by Professor Igarashi, students watched a video depicting the lives of individuals with dementia and learned about the social security system.

The presentation session held on October 14th marked the final session of a five-part lesson series. In each classroom, groups presented their ideas on interacting with people with dementia, along with tools and systems they had devised.

Professor Igarashi stated:

"We have been developing programs for the general public to systematically learn ‘care competency’ (the ability to care).
This time, we created and implemented a class program targeting high school students, developed through extensive consultation with high school teachers.

Today's presentation session serves as the culmination of that learning process.

In today's presentations, the students demonstrated a solid understanding of the importance of this work and presented ideas for building a better society with their own hands. We consider this a significant achievement.
Questionnaires were also administered before and after the classes, and we plan to proceed with verifying the academic effectiveness going forward.

In student reflections, comments included:

“I was happy to receive positive feedback from the instructors, like ‘It's amazing high school students can think this deeply.’”
“The point that it's important not just to help, but to help effectively, really stuck with me.”

Instructors also shared opinions such as, “I was impressed by the high school students' presentations,” and “I hope this learning develops into community activities.”
The high school also anticipates connecting this learning experience to future inquiry-based learning (practical activities aimed at solving local issues) for second- and third-year students.

The opportunity to interact with professionals actively involved in care through presentations was a valuable experience for the students' future career development and personal growth.

We believe it also held significant meaning for building a community where “everyone can live comfortably.”

 

 

https://change.kawasaki-net.ne.jp/en/topics/news/178