Kozo Matsubayashi
Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University
It is only during the last half century that aging has come to be truly thought of as a societal issue, rather than simply a personal one, as well as a challenge to be tackled by science and medicine. Diseases used to be studied only in hospitals and laboratories, centering on patients treated there. However, caring for elderly people in hospitals provides only a small glimpse into their world. With an advancing aged population, the reality of old age or age-related chronic illnesses takes place in homes and communities. In order to truly understand the health issues of the elderly, we must venture out and visit elderly people in their homes and cultural environments in Asian communities. Based on the geriatric findings of “Field Medicine” carried out on sites where the ecology and culture are different, we reconsider the holistic approach related to activities of daily living and quality of life, as well as chronic diseases of the elderly people in the world.
In this discussion, the concept of a geriatric society and the importance of the 6 “Ds” in geriatric medicine will be reviewed based on field medical findings in Asia, especially based on the viewpoints of human evolution. I would like to bring forward the importance of “Field Medicine” through both space and time.
(Presented in the 2018 Chulalongkorn Asian Heritage Forum : Culture of Longevity, 15-16 August 2018, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Bangkok, organized by Institute of Thai Studies, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Population Studies, Chulalongkorn University)