2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Senior Citizen Support Activities and the Role of Mutual Assistance System in Fishing Communities

Research Project

Project/Area Number	23653135
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Research Field	Sociology
Research Institution	Tokai University
Principal Investigator	SEKI Izumi 東海大学, 海洋学部, 准教授 (20554413)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	GOTO Yukie 東海大学, 医療技術短期大学看護学部, 助教 (70551365)
Project Period (FY)	2011 – 2013
Keywords	漁村女性 / 漁協女性部 / 過疎高齢化 / 漁村の共助システム / 高齢者支援活動 / 起業活動 / 地域活動 / 漁村の強み
Research Abstract	Fishing communities, gravely, face a significantly greater rate of population aging than the national average. In many cases, regional senior citizen support activities are led by women from the region, particularly through the Fisheries Cooperative Associations (FCA) women's groups. These women engage in activities such as visiting and delivering food to elderly households, and have created "salons"(activity centers) for use by the elderly. However, maintaining these activities is difficult because of the volunteers' aging and decline in the number of members. This study provides an overview of the current state of senior citizen support activities, with particular emphasis on organizations led by women, based on case studies undertaken by regional organizations. Further, it analyzes and classifies the challenges faced by these organizations.