A medical viewpoint on working at ByHeart and the health of elderly people
By Dr Junichiro Koyanagi
Japan has become a super-aged society, with more than 21% of the total population aged 65 or over. For many years people have been emphasising the necessity of preventative nursing care. What can we do to safeguard our health and motivation in later life?
As an orthopaedic surgeon, I have seen a wide range of patients over the past 20 years. Everybody experiences a decline in their exercise capacity due to ageing.
After retirement, it often gets harder to leave the house because it is difficult to find a sense of fulfillment due to being less involved in society.
As a result, there are fewer opportunities to be active, muscle wastage starts to occur, the number of steps taken decreases, the ability to move joints such as the knees and hips declines. This is known as locomotive syndrome. (1)
If you go out less and stay indoors more, you fall into a vicious circle of further decline in motor function and mental isolation.
In order to prevent future nursing care and maintain a healthy life expectancy (2), it is very important to strive to prevent a decline in motor function while maintaining social connections.
Note 1) https://locomo-joa.jp/locomo/
Note 2) Healthy life expectancy: The length of time you can live without being restricted by health problems.
Let us look more closely at ByHeart staff's daily duties.
First of all, one of the tasks is moving shopping trolleys, which involves walking around a large shopping centre, pushing a trolley by hand.
If you do this work for 4-5 hours a day, it is equivalent to walking 15-20,000 steps.
This is about 2-3 times the number of steps per day recommended for the elderly (approximately 6,700 steps) (3), and this alone is more than sufficient physical activity.
Note 3) Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Health Japan 21
Furthermore, if about 10 trolleys are connected and moved all at once, the total weight will be about 60-100 kg, which is an appropriate load and well within the physical capability of the elderly.
In addition, customer service such as exchanging greetings and guiding customers who come to the store, as well as working as a team with colleagues, helps maintain contact with society and perhaps leads to a new motivation in later life.
In conclusion, I believe that the work at ByHeart contributes to the healthy life expectancy of the elderly through moderate exercise and social participation, and is very significant in helping prevent social isolation.
Dr. Junichiro Koyanagi, Doctor of Medicine
Deputy Director of Orthopaedic Surgery, Osaka Rosai Hospital
Specialty: joint surgery, artificial hip joints/knee joints
2003 Graduated from Osaka University School of Medicine
2012 Graduated from Osaka University
Graduate School of Musculoskeletal Medicine (Biomaterials)
Member of Japanese Orthopaedic Association (Specialist)
Member of Japanese Society for Artificial Joints (Certified physician)