[Life Act 3 Companies] "Care Philosophy Learned 20 Years Ago at a Japanese Nursing Home... Korea Still Lagging Behind"

Hwang Jaeyoung, Director of the Senior Information Research Center

"I went to Japan on a student visa in 2000. One day, I turned on NHK broadcasting and saw this news: 'From April 1st, the Kaigo Insurance has started.' At that time, I wondered, 'What kind of insurance is that?' But now, over 20 years later, it has become a law that our country also benchmarks."

On the 17th, at his office in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Hwang Jaeyoung (51), CEO of the Senior Information Research Center, recalled the day he first heard about Japan's long-term care insurance called "Kaigo Insurance." He majored in Japanese in college in Korea, then went to Japan and earned his master's and doctoral degrees in social welfare at the Japan College of Social Work. When asked why he chose seniors among many career paths related to social welfare, he explained, "I grew up under my grandmother's care, so I had a lot of affection for the elderly, and it was not a difficult decision."

The Senior Information Research Center, run by CEO Hwang, is a publishing company that releases books related to elderly care, from specialized social welfare books to cognitive activity books needed in care settings. They have published various books such as "Dictionary of Dementia Care Residential Environments" and "Reading Spaces in Nursing Hospitals." He also undertakes research on elderly care and housing commissioned by government ministries, universities, and various institutions.

After completing his master's degree in Japan and before entering the doctoral program, CEO Hwang worked as a chief at the social welfare corporation "Reijukai" in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, gaining firsthand experience at local nursing facilities. This was just after the start of Kaigo Insurance, when nursing facilities were gradually increasing. He recalled being very surprised by the meticulous team care for elderly care and the cultural differences compared to Korea while working on-site.

On the 17th, Hwang Jaeyoung, director of the Senior Information Research Center, was met at an office in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Photo by Park Yujin

- Twenty years ago, the services at nursing facilities must have been very different from today's level. Even so, in what ways did you feel they were different from Korea?

▲ What impressed me was the atmosphere that it was not taken for granted that elderly people in nursing facilities just lie still. The mindset of "This patient cannot move well, so let's keep them lying down for safety" does not apply. The basic premise is that, assuming consciousness, meals are taken in the dining room, and baths are taken in the bathroom whenever possible. The fundamental idea is to guarantee activity. But even now in Korea, the atmosphere is to have meals or attend to needs mostly in bed.

- Most care workers, including care helpers, are middle-aged women without much physical strength. Would it be easy for them to assist with activities?

▲ That is why nursing robots are increasingly developing in Japan. The staffing situation is the same there. However, to guarantee the activities of the elderly, various machines like lifts have been developed. If you go to nursing product exhibitions, you can see many devices and machines that help care workers assist elderly activities, all for this reason. One of the main reasons care workers quit is lumbar disorders caused by strain on the back when helping elderly people move, lift, or carry them. These machines solve such difficulties. They also help prevent patient falls. Surely, machines that do the work slowly and safely are better than humans. So much so that a movement called "No Lifting Care" has emerged, meaning care workers do not directly lift or carry patients.

- Is the government also interested in this?

▲ In Japan, the Prime Minister personally visits to see robots used in the nursing industry. That shows how much they care about the nursing robot industry. Although robots are used in various industries, a significant demand comes from the care sector. The manufacturing and development of robots are done by industry, but supply is managed by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. It is also applied to Kaigo Insurance. Especially in Japan, beyond robots, under the name "Smart Care," various machines are being developed in the care field. It is part of a national project, and an institution called "Techno-Aid" under the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare was established to conduct diverse education and exhibitions related to smart care.

- I heard that Japanese nursing facilities have a system that provides benefits when technology is incorporated.

▲ That's right. For example, when advanced welfare devices such as sensors that reduce the workload of care workers are introduced, the staffing standards for nursing facilities are relaxed. Due to such institutional support, many IoT (Internet of Things) companies have emerged that monitor how elderly people spend their time at night using lasers and sensors. There are also automatic recording systems. Care workers have to observe and manually record everything they do on-site, but there is so much administrative work that they lack time to care for the elderly. So, movement detection and automatic recording systems reduce their burden. Japan integrates the development of smart care within its system, whereas we are still insufficient. This is also why service quality is not improving.

- Do you think care robots can replace human workers?

▲ Not to that extent. Productivity enough to replace workers has not yet been achieved. Unless humanoid robots that behave like humans appear, such effects are hard to expect. In fact, work becomes slower because machines move slowly. However, I think it is revolutionary just because safety and convenience improve. And no one wants a world where robots replace humans. We are not a society aiming for unmanned nursing homes.

- In Korea, care workers are also aging. Shouldn't smart care develop further?

▲ That is why I personally have a dream to contribute to building a "Smart Nursing Home." I already established a corporation called "Care Robotics" this year. We plan to import Japan's advanced mobility-assist lifts and activity sensors and provide them with education to domestic nursing facilities. Recently, institutions in Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do, and Busan have expressed interest in pilot projects. We will educate the staff of those institutions and enable them to use sensors and lifts. After talking with several nursing institutions, they really liked it. They said, "Now staff won't come to me saying 'I got hurt somewhere' anymore." One staff member told me, "Doctor, if I use this, I can work until I'm eighty." Improving the work environment is much more efficient than raising wages by a few tens of thousands of won. Once properly introduced, mechanization and automation will rapidly progress in Korean nursing facilities.