著者

中島 友子

出版者

近畿医療福祉大学

雑誌

近畿福祉大学紀要 (ISSN:13461672)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.8, no.1, pp.1-12, 2007-06-01

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Retirement communities are not yet common in Japan. The purpose of this paper is tointroduce the Covenant Shores Retirement Community on Mercer Island in Washington, USAand the lives of people living in it, and to consider what Japanese can learn from them. I stayed with an 82-year-old woman, A, in Covenant Shores for 8 days from March 15th to23rd, 2007. I observed the lives and people there. Most of the people I met were over 80 yearsold. However, they were very independent and enjoyed their own lives. Many were peervolunteers. Japanese can learn to be unique, the importance of retaining one's past way of lifeand that the elderly can help one another.