The number of elderly people who are suffering from senile dementia or whose health is so bad that they cannot receive nursing care services at home has been on the increase as the graying of Japan's population progresses. The government needs to help establish a sufficient number of critical care nursing homes for the aged (tokubetsu yogo rojin homu, or tokuyo for short) in a systematic way.
Demand for government-subsidized tokuyo homes is strong because residents in tokuyo homes can receive a wide range of nursing care services, including help with eating, going to the bathroom and bathing for relatively low charges.
Some applicants have to wait two years before being accepted by tokuyo homes. According to the health and welfare ministry's survey, as of Oct. 1, 2013, some 524,000 people nationwide were on a waiting list after applying for admission into tokuyo homes — an increase of some 103,000 from four years before.