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After the break, one of panelists, Mr. Nobuhiko Bishu from Tajima Choju Village, talked from the standpoint of a project general manager who actually provides care for the elderly.
Since the establishment of the Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCI) System in Japan, care of the elderly has come to mean more than just physical care. Mr. Bishu said that care that helps elderly people to live independently and pleasantly based on their own values is now a major requirement. He held up his own mother who lives with a cat as an example of such lifestyles, and talked about life for older people with companion animals. Although seniors living with companion animals has not been treated as an important issue up until now, it has the potential to play an important role in the care of the elderly in future.

Another panelist was Ms. Sanae Matsuda from the Hanshin Branch of the Japan Animal Welfare Society, who spoke about Japan’s first housing complex specifically designed for symbiosis with animals, which was built by Hyogo Prefecture and Kobe City after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake of January 1995. At that time, when she was conducting animal rescue activities, she became familiar with some of the problems generated when elderly people live together with animals. She explained about these problems showing actual examples.
To achieve solutions, she stressed the necessity of teamwork not only between people working in animal-related fields, but including government administrators, caseworkers and professionals involved in issues surrounding the elderly and their companion animals, such as welfare providers, etc.

The last panelist was Dr. Munetaka Tateishi of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. He talked about discussions, plans and possibilities for future care of the elderly envisaging the situation in the year 2015, by which time the first baby-boom generation will be over 65 years old. While introducing his current activities for the care of elderly people with dementia, he spoke to the audience about situations in which elderly people live in group homes (small-scale residential facilities that have a homely atmosphere). In some cases, he said, living together with animals can provide older people with a sense of fulfillment while helping them to maintain a mental and physical balance. Lastly, he played a videotape recording accompanied by music showing numerous images of smiling older people living in a group home. This brought tears of the eyes of some members of the audience.

After the speeches, the chairperson, Ms. Keiko Yamazaki chaired a panel discussion followed by a question-and-answer session.
Ms. Yamazaki concluded with other speakers that the various professionals whose work touches on the issue of older people and their companion animals should be aware of their responsibilities and provide and share their knowledge with each other. Should they do so, a synergistic effect would be generated that would help to significantly improve the future support system. At the same time, she also underlined the message that we should not neglect the welfare of animals.