Japan to urge nursing care robot development

According to the Japanese ministry, there were 1.71 million nursing care workers in fiscal 2013. 2.53 million workers will be needed in fiscal 2025.

The Japanese government is planning to establish about 10 centers across the nation in fiscal 2016 to help develop nursing care robots that can enable elderly people to live more independently, it has been learned.

By creating facilities where companies can hear the opinions of people involved in nursing care, such as nursing care workers and the elderly, the government aims to promote the development of user-friendly robots that would meet people's actual needs, according to informed sources.

Nursing care robots are intended to help elderly people live independently or reduce the burden on caregivers, for example by providing mobility and toilet assistance and helping with lifting and bathing. The government has been providing subsidies for up to two-thirds of research and development costs since fiscal 2013.

However, because companies developing the robots did not sufficiently incorporate the opinions of relevant people, some of their products were too large or too expensive and consequently not used, the sources said.

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry intends to create the centers across the country and assign "development support coordinators" who would be knowledgeable in both nursing care and robotic technologies, according to the sources.

The coordinators will reportedly be tasked with serving as a bridge by advising companies and delivering "voices from actual nursing care sites."

By reflecting the needs of end users, the government aims to help companies develop more user-friendly robots through community-based approaches, the sources said.

A council comprising robot developers, operators of nursing care facilities and others will be established at the centers to incorporate the opinions of workers at the planning stage and before test models are produced, the sources said.

The centers would also serve as locations for several companies with different strengths to consider jointly developing robots and as places where public understanding of nursing care robots could be deepened, according to the sources.

Centers will be located mainly in areas where companies developing nursing care robots are situated, and they will be established at rehabilitation centers or chambers of industry and commerce, the sources said.

According to the ministry, there were 1.71 million nursing care workers in fiscal 2013. Although 2.53 million workers will be needed in fiscal 2025, a shortfall of about 380,000 is expected. Wider use of nursing care robots to help reduce the burden on workers, who are often engaged in physically demanding tasks, is expected to prevent them from quitting.

- Japan News