Report on 3rd Introduction to NPO Activities Seminar 2021

2021年9月16日更新

Fukushi Gakudan’s activities

At the third Introduction to NPO Activities Seminar for 2021, we welcomed Mika Onodera and Yukari Katayama. They work at the social welfare corporation Fukushi Gakudan, which operates in Chiba Prefecture and Saitama Prefecture. They described for us their respective backgrounds and daily schedules as well as their thoughts on welfare. Fukushi Gakudan is engaged in a broad spectrum of activities, including special nursing homes and day services for the elderly, counselling support, day services for children with disabilities, and operation of Koisuru-Buta Laboratory, but the seminar focused particularly on nursing care.

I was most struck by our speakers’ remark that you can make people’s lives better with just a little kindness and thought. Work at Fukushi Gakudan was far more creative than I had imagined, with staff using a wealth of experience and detailed observation to identify what is needed for people whose issues usually just get dismissed as the inevitable result of aging. I found out that many new systems have been developed in line with the times in terms of the relationship between families and staff, facilities, and the working environment, which transformed my previously negative view of welfare. The seminar was attended not just by people from the university but also many from outside, and I learned a lot from listening to their diverse opinions and impressions.

According to our two guests, they can always have fun no matter what physical and mental challenges they face, and they can also work with a clear conscience. The impression they left enabled me to rethink my own ideas about my future.

Nursing care in action
Our two guests (top left)

(Rinka Yamashima, first-year student, Department of Psychology,
Faculty of Human Life and Environmental Sciences)