For Immediate Release
For information:
Ms. Momoko Abe
mabe@jcie.or.jp
Announcement of Winners of
the 2022 Healthy Aging Prize for Asian Innovation
Eight organizations from Thailand, Japan and China were selected as best practices in Asia to address the challenges facing rapidly aging societies.
Bangkok , September 29, 2022 – The Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE) and the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) announced the winners today of the 2022 Healthy Aging Prize for Asian Innovation (HAPI). This year marked the third round of awards, and despite the constraints on organizations caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, applications were received this year from organizations across nine countries or regions in East and Southeast Asia.
From among these, eight awardees were recognized for their innovative work in the field of aging. Grand Prize and Second Prize winners were selected in the three categories of Technology & Innovation, Community-Based Initiatives, and Supporting Self-Reliance. Selections were made by an international committee of eight experts from throughout the region. In addition, this year, in recognition of the Global Campaign to Combat Ageism that was launched last year in support of the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing, the committee awarded a 2022 Special Prize for Combatting Ageism as well.
This year’s applicant pool saw an increased number of organizations from China, including two of the Grand Prize winners. We also saw a rise in applications focused on dementia—initiatives that raise awareness and understanding of dementia and brain health, and initiatives that seek to remove the stigma surrounding it. Many applications introduced innovations that create an enabling environment for people who wish to remain in their communities as they age, and that seek to benefit both older people and local economies.
The Grand Prize and Special Prize winners will receive their awards on November 8, 2022, at a special ceremony at the conclusion of the AHWIN Forum, a high-level, multisectoral dialogue on aging issues to be held at the Tokyo Prince Hotel in Tokyo, Japan.
HAPI Grand Prize Winners
Technology & Innovation
ORANGE LINKS | Japan
QR Code Jell Nail Stickers for People with Dementia
Community-Based Initiatives
Longzhen Senior Care | China
One-Stop Community Elderly Service Program
Supporting Self-Reliance
Shanghai Jinmei Care for the Elderly | China
Memory Home
Special Prize for Combatting Ageism
Boonmerit Media | Thailand
Manoottangwai Intergenerational Online Media Campaign
Second Prize Winners
SILVER WOOD Co., Ltd. | Japan
VR Dementia
Mediva inc. | Japan
“Dementia Eyes”—Experiencing Dementia through AR
Community-Based Initiatives
Odekake Rehabilitation Promotion Council | Japan
Initiative to Promote Outings for Older People and Commercial Revitalization
Supporting Self-Reliance
Takarazuka City Collaborative Community-Building Council | Japan
Healthy and Purposeful Employment Trial
More About the 2022 Grand Prize Winners
Technology & Innovation
QR Code Jell Nail Stickers for People with Dementia
Each year, thousands of people living with dementia wander off, becoming disoriented and unable to find their way home. Japanese authorities received more than 17,000 such missing person reports in 2020. To solve this problem, ORANGE LINKS created a small, waterproof sticker that is affixed to a fingernail and includes a personalized QR code. When scanned with a smartphone, it gives contact details for a designated contact person (e.g., a family member or care facility), without disclosing any personal information. The sticker lasts for two weeks, so it cannot be left behind, unlike other wearable devices. ORANGE LINKS is also working with local governments, the police, and a local railway company to train people on how to assist a wandering person with dementia. The innovation was selected as an example of using existing technologies in a creative, cost-effective, and accessible way to address a problem facing aging populations.
One-Stop Community Elderly Service Program
In the Jinsong region of Beijing, more than two thousand people aged 75 and above live in apartment complexes without elevators, making it hard to access daily necessities. Longzhen Senior Care, operator of a community-based eldercare center, realized that many of the area’s oldest old were aging at home. Older adults with disabilities had trouble in acquiring various community services.. In response, they developed a free one-stop community elderly service program. They assess each person’s needs and provide liaisons (combining social workers and volunteers) to arrange for everything from adult daycare and home medical services to handymen, emergency alert response, home-delivered meals, legal assistance, shopping assistance, and other services. The project was selected in recognition of its responsiveness to the voices of the older residents in the community and the needs of local businesses—specifically those that offer quality services with compassion.
Shanghai Jinmei Care for the Elderly | China
In China, although an estimated 10 million people are affected by dementia, awareness and understanding of the disease has lagged. Jinmei Care is working to change that, adapting foreign models to the local environment to create “Memory Homes”—community-based physical spaces where social workers provide those with dementia and their families with professional support and diverse programs, covering almost all aspects related to dementia, from pre-diagnosis advocacy and education to post-diagnosis support and intervention. They also promote greater public understanding and help destigmatize dementia through the creation of a Memory Café and a volunteer network of “Dementia-Friends.” Jinmei Care has been recognized by the Shanghai government, which is supporting the expansion of Memory Homes as part of its Dementia-Friendly Community Construction Project. The model was selected as a model that offers much-needed support for those dealing with dementia and their families so that they can live with hope and dignity.
Special Prize for Combatting Ageism
In light of the UN’s global campaign against ageism as part of its Decade of Healthy Ageing, the HAPI Selection Committee awarded a special prize to Boonmerit Media for its intergenerational initiative to combat ageism.
Manoottangwai Intergenerational Online Media Campaign
To address Thailand’s increasing intergenerational friction, TV production company Boonmerit Media launched an online platform called “Manoottangwai” (multigenerational) that conveys stories that raise awareness, bridge the gap, and build a positive mindset between people of different generations. The initiative targets older people to help them achieve an active lifestyle, and it targets younger people to help them understand that post-retirement wellbeing (financial, physical, and emotional) requires preparation. Most importantly, Manoottangwai aims to bridge the country’s widening generation gap and create a society that is inclusive to all ages. Younger and older people work together to produce content for Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok. They present diverse and positive stories of older people, like a food delivery service managed by a 75-year-old grandma and her 20-year-old grandson, or a 62-year-old skateboarder. In just three years, Manoottangwai has over 1 million followers and 10s of millions of users engaged.
Second Prize
Technology & Innovation (Tie)
SILVER WOOD Co., Ltd. | Japan
VR Dementia
Using virtual reality (VR) technology and a trained facilitator, this program allows caregivers, nurses, family members, and the general public to experience the symptoms of dementia from a first-hand perspective, experiencing the emotions brought about due to the symptoms and the interactions with the people nearby.
Mediva inc. | Japan
“Dementia Eyes”—Experiencing Dementia through AR
A training program using an augmented reality (AR) filter to reproduce the visual difficulties experienced by people with dementia, such as poor depth perception. Unlike VR, which creates a virtual space, AR lets users experience the effects in their real surroundings, facilitating them to reflect their caregiving practice and re-evaluate their built-environment to be dementia-friendly.
Community-Based Initiatives
Odekake Rehabilitation Promotion Council | Japan
Initiative to Promote Outings for Older People and Commercial Revitalization
A program for older persons or those who require care and support that combines the concept of “shopping, dining, and recreation” together with “activity, excercise, and interaction” to create a new form of rehabilitation. At the same time, the project aims to help revitalize the local economy by carrying out activities in the local commercial district.
Supporting Self-Reliance
Takarazuka City Collaborative Community-Building Council | Japan
Healthy and Purposeful Employment Trial
This local government matches healthy older people who want to work with nursing care and daycare centers, which are suffering from personnel shortages. Participants handle light tasks for a 3-month trial period and can continue to work if they so choose. The trial period lowers the hurdle to participation and the work gives participants a sense of being needed by society.
Information about award winners is available on the AHWIN website (www.ahwin.org).
About the Award
HAPI is an award program designed to recognize and amplify innovative policies, programs, services, and products that address the challenges facing aging societies. This prize is an initiative of JCIE and ERIA, carried out under the auspices of the Japanese government’s Asia Health and Wellbeing Initiative (AHWIN). Awards are given in three categories:
• Technology & Innovation: New technologies and techniques that encourage healthy and productive aging, that improve the way that older persons receive care, or that provide greater efficiency, safety, and/or convenience for older persons and caregivers
• Community-Based Initiatives: Community-based approaches—including intergenerational approaches—to keeping older adults healthy, active, engaged, and/or safe
• Supporting Self-Reliance: New ways to help older adults maintain, improve, or restore their ability to carry out activities of daily living and to age in place
The award is unique for its breadth of coverage, allowing a wide range of organizations—including community organizations, NPOs, associations, local governments, businesses, and others—across the region to apply and enabling them to showcase how they are innovating on a diverse set of interconnected issues. HAPI was introduced at a pivotal time as Asia now faces unprecedented demographic changes: according to UN data (2019), East and Southeast Asia are expected to have 572 million people aged 65 or over by 2050 —more than double today’s number.
About the Organizers
HAPI is an initiative of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA, www.eria.org), based in Jakarta, and the Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE, www.jcie.org), located in Tokyo and New York. These nonprofit think tanks are partnering on several projects under the auspices of the Japanese government’s Asia Health and Wellbeing Initiative (AHWIN). AHWIN was launched in 2016 to promote bilateral and regional cooperation on a range of issues related to fostering vibrant and healthy societies where people can enjoy long and productive lives, to develop sustainable and self-reliant health care systems in Asia, and to contribute to the region’s sustainable and equitable development and economic growth. As part of that initiative, ERIA and JCIE are focusing on the promotion of healthy aging in Asia, supporting research, dialogues, and information sharing that can benefit people and policymakers throughout the region. For details about HAPI, visit our website at https://www.ahwin.org/award/.
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