A Problem-Solving Type of a Sister-City Relationship : A Case Study of Sendai City
| Autor: | Tomoko, Sato, Kaoru, Yoshinaga |
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| Jazyk: | japonština |
| Rok vydání: | 2016 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | 総合政策 = Journal of policy studies. 18(1):1-16 |
| ISSN: | 1344-6347 |
| Popis: | 仙台市はアメリカ合衆国カリフォルニア州リバーサイド市と、1957年に姉妹都市提携を結んだ。それ以来半世紀以上に渡り、両市は活発な交流を続けてきた。その分野は行政、教育、文化、スポーツ、マスメディアなど多岐に渡り、多くの市民が交流に参加してきた。本論では、新しい局面を迎えた両市の交流を考察した。それは、「問題解決型交流」と呼ぶことができ、高齢化社会において必要とされる「寄添い型ボランティア」の育成と、ボランティアの老人介護施設への導入である。日本においてボランティア活動が盛んになりつつあるが、定期的にある施設などを訪れて活動を行うという形は定着していない。そこで、ボランティアの先進国と言われるアメリカに、姉妹都市を通して介護施設の視察に出かけた。リバーサイド市とその周辺における研修の成果は仙台市において徐々に現れており、ボランティアと受入れ施設の数が増えつつある。介護施設における職員の不足は多くの自治体が直面している問題であり、ボランティアを社会資源として活用している仙台市の取り組みは、先駆的な事例と言える。 Sendai’s first connection with Riverside, California, commenced in 1951 when some members of the Japan Association of University Women visited wounded American soldiers at a hospital, one of whom was from Riverside. Continued contact led to establishing a sister-city relationship in 1957, and the two municipalities have developed a good relationship by respectively sending mayors, students, and residents from all walks of life. This might be termed a traditional type of a relationship. This paper deals with a new type, or a problem-solving type of a sister-city relationship. A shortage of workers at nursing homes for the elderly has been critically serious not only in Sendai but also in other cities of Japan. Due to being burned-out by harsh working environments and stressful relations with clients and coworkers, a considerable number of care workers resign resulting in a high turnover rate. A constant insufficiency of workers desperately requires volunteers to make a regular visit to the institution. This practice, however, is not so common in Japan. To find some clues to solving this grave problem, a contingent of Sendai citizens visited nursing homes in Riverside. They investigated how the volunteers were working there. They also invited directors of the nursing homes in Riverside to expose their people to lectures and seminars on volunteer work at the Riverside institutions. Since then, a small number of institutions have steadily started hiring volunteers as an efficient form of help. This practice might be the dawn of another type of sister-city relationship as well as enhancement of volunteer work at nursing homes. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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