26th Digitally Inclusive, Healthy Ageing Communities (DIHAC) Study Cross-cultural Exchange Meeting

Digitally Inclusive, Healthy Ageing Communities (DIHAC) is a cross-cultural study primarily based on Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Thailand, further expanding to India. DIHAC is expected to expand to several countries through collaboration and networking. We organize bi-monthly cross-cultural meetings to create trans-disciplinary learning opportunities for researchers, professionals, and graduate students. Cross-cultural meetings focus on evidence, experience toward policy and implementation of healthy ageing and digital inclusion of older persons. DIHAC team will organize the  26^th Digitally Inclusive, Healthy Ageing Communities (DIHAC) Study Cross-cultural Exchange Meeting on 12th December 2024.

The chairperson of the 26^th DIHAC meeting is Mr. Masaru Hiraiwa. He is the Director General of the Planning and Strategy Bureau at the National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology (NCGG), Japan. He has previously held significant positions within the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, where he contributed to national healthcare policy and strategy. 

We are very honored to learn from three invited speakers. Speakers from Thailand are Kiattisak Mala, Mayor of Keelek City, Chiang Mai and Dr Saiyud Moolphate, MPH, PhD, Lecturer and Head of Department of Public Health, Chiang Mai Rajabhat University, Thailand. Mayor Kiattisak has been dedicated to improving the health of older people in Chiang Mai. Dr. Saiyud has been conducting research for over a decade on long-term care, social support, and healthy ageing. She is the investigator of the current DIHAC study Thailand site. The collaborative lecture will share DIHAC study finding in Thailand and the ‘Community University for Older Persons,’ an initiative recently launched for healthy ageing in Keelek City, Chiang Mai Thailand.

Speaker from Japan is Professor. Takanori Shibata, PhD. He is a Chief Senior Research Scientist at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) Japan. He is also Professor at School of Computer Science, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Visiting Professor, Department of Robotics, Tohoku University and Visiting Fellow at AgeLab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, U.S.A.  He is a brain researcher, certified as the inventor of a seal robot named PARO, as the World’s Most Therapeutic Robot, by Guinness World Records in 2002. He was the Deputy Director for Information and Communication Technology Policy, Bureau of Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy, Cabinet Office, Government of Japan in 2009 and 2010. He will be discussing PARO, the cuddly robot designed to provide emotional and social support, especially for persons with dementia.

We are very glad to announce the upcoming 26^th DIHAC meeting which will exchange evidence, initiatives, and experiences from Japan, and Thailand cross-culturally. Participants are multi-disciplinary researchers, global health researchers, epidemiologists, sociologists, economists, medical doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, NGOs, NPOs, and PhD students from Japan, ROK, Singapore, Thailand, Kenya, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, South Africa, Ukraine, Belgium, the Netherlands, U.S.A and the UK. We want to share this learning opportunity with our friends, colleagues, experts, scholars and researchers around the world.

Date and Time:

12^th December 2024

18:00 to 19:20 JST (Tokyo, Seoul)

16:00 to 17:20 ICT (Bangkok)

in Zoom, by invitation or by registration

Meeting Access to register

(Please register by 11th December 2024 if you are interested! limited seats)

Program

Socializing (5 minutes) PI Associate Professor Myo Nyein Aung, Juntendo University, Department of Global Health Research, DIHAC study team and international participants

Presentation 1: Thailand

Speaker: Kiattisak Mala, Mayor of Keelek City, Chiang Mai and Dr. Saiyud Moolphate, MPH, PhD, Lecturer and Head of Department of Public Health, Chiang Mai Rajabhat University, Co-PI of the DIHAC study, Thailand.

Title –Community University for Older Persons: An Initiative for Healthy Ageing in Keelek city, Chiang Mai Thailand

(20 minutes)

Discussion 10 minutes

Presentation 2: Japan

Speaker: Professor Takanori Shibata, PhD, Chief Senior Research Scientist, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan

Title – PARO: A Social Robot as an Older Person’s Companion

(20 minutes)

Discussion and conclusion (15 minutes)

Chairperson: : Masaru Hiraiwa, Director General, Planning and Strategy, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Japan

Figure 1 PARO

Figure 2 PARO as a pet/companion for healthy active seniors for “Well Being” in Japan