We can calculate life expectancy in several ways, depending on the data we include. But one thing is consistent; any way you calculate it, Japan is always near the top. According to the CIA World Factbook, the life expectancy for females is 87.9 years in Japan and 82.79 years in the U.S. For males, the […]
Keeping an elder loved one connected to culture
These are tough times to find a place for a loved one who needs to be in assisted living or a nursing facility. Even along the West Coast, where most of the Japanese American population is clustered, residential facilities that specialized in Japanese seniors have closed or sold to new owners, and have switched to […]
A senior citizen’s letter to the future
With a racial and age demographic shift on the horizon, Stanford University launched a mini-fellowship to educate the general public on how they can serve ethnic minority seniors. Through it, gerontologist Laurie Ulrick developed a project for Japanese American seniors to pass on their life experiences and cultural values, but she found that working with […]
Let’s Talk: About aging preparedness
The other day as I was gingerly finishing my shower at the gym, I was mildly stunned … was that really my gnarly, liver spotted hand holding on to the grab bar in the shower?! How did that come to be? When were those slick catalogs with the fancy pants latest styles and spike heels […]
Keiro celebrates 50 years of caring for Nikkei seniors in Southern California
LOS ANGELES — Keiro Senior HealthCare, the largest nonprofit health care organization serving older Japanese Americans, is celebrating its 50th year of enhancing the quality of life for seniors in the Nikkei community. One in five Japanese Americans is over age 65, almost twice the national average. As the number of senior citizens increases, Keiro, […]
Alzheimer’s Disease: An overlooked killer
Kimochi Inc., a San Francisco Japantown-based nonprofit that provides culturally sensitive care to San Francisco’s seniors, invited the Alzheimer’s Association to present on the disease during a community event. Through a PowerPoint presentation at an event held in Japantown July 18, Edie Yau, director of diversity and inclusion for the association, described the disease, which […]
HEALTHY AGING: Senior services for Japanese Americans in California
The Nikkei community is aging, and as Sansei and even Yonsei enter their 60s, aging issues have become all the more urgent. California, with its high concentration of Japanese Americans, has numerous services and entities dedicated to aiding aging seniors through the concept of “Healthy Aging.” The Administration on Aging (AOA), a part of the […]
Judo master, 98, is of healthy mind and spirit
Keiko Fukuda, at the age of 98, continues to practice judo, an art she has honed for more than 70 years. While she is often confined to a wheelchair, following a health checkup in May, her doctor described her as healthy as can be. According to her friend and caregiver, Shelley Fernandez, Fukuda has survived […]
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