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Social Science Japan Journal Advance Access published online on November 2, 2007
Social Science Japan Journal, doi:10.1093/ssjj/jym056
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© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press in conjunction with the University of Tokyo. All rights reserved.

Survey Article

Toward Maintaining and Improving the Quality of Long-Term Care: The Current State and Issues Regarding Home Helpers in Japan under the Long-Term Care Insurance System

HOTTA Satoko*

HOTTA Satoko is a Research Associate at the Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo. She specializes in human resources management, particularly long-term care services. She is coauthor (with Sato Hiroki and Oki Eiichi) of Herupa no Noryoku Kaihatsu to Koyo Kanri (Skill Development and Employment Management for Care Workers) (Tokyo: Keiso Shobo, 2006). She can be contacted at the Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan, or by e-mail at satoko{at}iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp

In Japan, where the population is aging at a speed unequaled by any other country in the world, there has been a rapid increase in the use of long-term care services, following the adoption of the Long-Term Care Insurance System. The increase is seen mostly in home-visit care services, and the need for such services is expected to increase even further in the years ahead. This paper reviews previous studies on long-term care insurance service market in Japan, focusing especially on home helpers. The first section of this paper introduces the framework of the Long-Term Care Insurance System and the current state of the long-term care insurance service market. The second section examines the systems and working conditions regarding home helpers. Finally, the third section analyzes the job performance skills of home helpers and development thereof. Through these observations, this paper aims to introduce the measures proposed to be effective for maintaining and improving the quality of long-term care services, and for consistent provision of such services, by focusing mainly on employment management that enables helper skill development.

* Translated from the Japanese by Lili Selden.


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