303 Ageing in place for minority ethnic adults in Japan: a systems thinking approach

Abstract EP3.2, e-Poster Terminal 3, September 3, 2025, 13:05 - 14:00 Objective Japan currently faces the super aged society and becoming more ethnically diverse especially in urban cities. Age-friendly communities relate to the context of well-being and healthy ageing of older adults. However, little known about the experiences of ageing in place among ethnic minority communities in Japan. The study aims to explore experiences of community and organizations support and changing the ways of their working for older foreign residents over time using a systems thinking approach. Methods The study fields are metropolitan area in Kyoto, Osaka, and Hyogo prefectures where ageing rate of foreign residents over 10%. Semi-structured interviews were conducted target to local governments, religious facilities, and non-profit organizations. The questions were their roles of supporting ageing in place for foreign residents and how their organizations may have changed the ways of working for ethnic minority communities. Results In total 8 organizations were interviewed. All the local governors indicated that the nationalities of the elderly foreign population are becoming increasingly diverse. A decade ago, 70% of older foreigners were from Korea and had lived in Japan since wartime; therefore, few language communication challenges. However, nowadays multilingual translation is required and one city has recently passed an ordinance on intercultural care. Non-profit organizations indicated gender differences in health. Religious institutions play an important role for mental health, and recent challenges are focused on cemetery and end-of-life care. Conclusions Social infrastructures such as a religious spaces play key role in enhancing opportunities and social interactions for ethnic minority people in Japan. For further study, the study draw causal loop diagrams from various data from ethnic minorities age over 50 years for deriving insights of structures of social, psychological and physical environments of age-friendly communities.