The population of Zushi City in 2017 is 60,081, and the percentage of population aged 65 and over is 31.04%. The population in 2025 is expected to be 56,101 and the percentage of population aged 65 and over is expected to be 31.56%. As the population of Zushi City ages, services for the elderly will continue to increase.
From this perspective, Zushi City has implemented policies for the elderly to achieve “establishment of a community-based integrated care system,” based on our basic philosophy, “A town where the elderly can age in place safely.”
We emphasis on building our framework for community-based integrated care, developing dementia strategies, encouraging social participation and improving living environment. We are providing various services for that purpose.
For the elderly to age in place, it is important to provide them with medical, nursing care and welfare services across the relating divisions, so we are also building a organizational framework for this.
Zushi City is located in the Miura Peninsula area, southeast of Kanagawa Prefecture, where municipalities have a close relationship. Zushi City with other 4 municipalities in this area together stated “the declaration of the peninsula that improve ME-BYO” at the Miura Peninsula Summit, and has implemented various projects to improve ME-BYO.
In order to make Zushi City more age-friendly, we accelerate our efforts with Kanagawa Prefectural Government and other municipalities in this area in order to extend healthy life expectancy. Also, we will listen to the needs of the elderly, the opinions of citizens and experts, and reflect these factors on policies. And by linking with the comprehensive plan of Zushi City, we will implement age-friendly projects in various fields.
(ME-BYO: Rather than regarding health and illness as being mutually exclusive, the concept of ME-BYO views a person’s mental and physical condition as continuously changing along a spectrum between health and illness).