A Workshop for High School Students as Part of Project CHANGE
On March 7, we conducted the Project CHANGE workshop titled "Future Opinion Board: How Do We Support Those Close to Us? – The Future of Nursing," aimed at second-year students from the Science Department of Kawasaki City High School for Science and Technology. This workshop was designed to encourage current high school students, who will be our stakeholders (FOB: Future Opinion Board) in a society 20 to 30 years from now, to view the future in the context of an aging society as something personal. To facilitate constructive discussion, we conducted a preliminary lesson in December on the challenges of an aging society.
After explaining the purpose and flow of the workshop, students were divided into six groups for discussion. The facilitators for each group were members of Project CHANGE, as follows (titles omitted):
- Group 1: Ayumi Igarashi (Associate Professor, University of Tokyo, Nursing)
- Group 2: Takanori Ichiki (Professor, University of Tokyo, Engineering)
- Group 3: Rui Shuhama (Dai-ichi Life Insurance HD)
- Group 4: Ken Uchida (Professor, University of Tokyo, Engineering)
- Group 5: Manami Takaoka (Project Assistant Professor, University of Tokyo, Nursing)
- Group 6: Takeshi Yamagami (Call Doctor)
The discussions were divided into three sessions. Under the guidance of each facilitator, students actively participated and shared their thoughts. After each group discussion, representatives were selected to share their session's content with all participants. Here are some highlights:
Session 1: Imagining Future Living Based on Current Social Issues
- Will schools disappear due to declining birth rates?
- With decreasing marriage rates, will solitary deaths increase?
- The advancements of VR and AI.
Session 2: Creating an Ideal Future Living
- I want to live in a community with many interactions.
- I want to create a society where everyone can effectively engage with IT.
- I want a society where we can live safely without infectious diseases.
Session 3: Sharing Ideas on Tools and Systems That Would Be Nice to Have to Realize Ideal Living
- A system that can assess nurse calls based on patients' expressions.
- A portable weight measurement sheet.
- A system for conducting health check-ups at home.
Through the preliminary lessons, students learned about the realities of an aging society and initially felt discouraged, thinking "our future is not bright." However, through the workshop, they realized that "we can change our future." Facilitators expressed surprise at the high school students' creative thinking and noted that they received valuable insights for solving current practical challenges, indicating that the workshop was very fruitful. Project Leader Ichiki from CHANGE encouraged students to maintain their aspirations for "what would be nice to have" and to harness that passion to shape their future.
At the Project CHANGE Kickoff Symposium scheduled for March 27, three students from this workshop will present the content of their group discussions, alongside participants from a workshop with new nurses held by the Kawasaki Nursing Association on February 3.
