Paper short abstract:

My paper illustrates demographic changes and hardships in personal life and society, and then introduces the activities of doctors practicing palliative care, paramedical workers, and citizens who have an interest in nursing care and good-dying.

Paper long abstract:

Increase in life expectancy of Japanese people has brought about unexpected personal and social consequences. Elderly people over 65 years old are expected to live twenty years more without sufficient pension and savings. Middle agers also have more than twenty year to care for their ageing parents and parents-in law, and in unfortunate cases they have to take turn to provide care to their parents in home due to the shortage of nursing home. Moreover, a sharp increase in medical and caring expenditure for elders will likely bring financial catastrophe of social security. Elders in the terminal phase receive high cost of life-sustaining treatment in hospital. They cannot die in their home if their family and doctors have compromised on their calm and natural death in hospital, and in case they have not written a living will. I dare to say it is time that Japanese should face and consider both good living and good dying. If not, a super-aging society may not be able to sustain itself in the future.

My paper illustrates demographic changes and hardships in personal life and society, and then introduces the activities of doctors practicing palliative care, paramedical workers, and citizens who have an interest in nursing care and good-dying. The society for the study of clinical dying has promoted this issue among citizens; both the association of chaplains and the association of the study of spiritual care have recently collaborated to consider how medical and religious practice can be combined to ease suffering of dying person and bereaved family as well. Facing one's own death and/or family' death, people tend to be courageous enough to reflect on their lives and to reconsider their relations with others. It might be useful for baby boomers living in the high economic growth period to look at the nature of birth, ageing, illness, and dying in human life. The endless pursuit of economic growth and global competitiveness in Japanese mindset should be cooled down in an ageing and dying society.