A New Informatics: Trajectory Patterns
in Health Indexes for Japanese Elders
and Systemic Change to Life Course
Approach
Yu Taniguchi and Hironobu Matsushita
Abstract This chapter discusses intrinsic capacity and functional ability in relation
to the framework described in the World Health Organization World Report on
Aging and Health. We have investigated health-related trajectories in communitydwelling Japanese older adults. Using data and information from the super-aged
society of Japan, the author developed a framework of policy and informatics of
healthy ageing that can be applied to ageing societies worldwide. This framework
applies to multiple entities, including communities, hospitals, nursing homes, and
countries. Translationality is the fundamental basis for the transition away from the
existing system.
Keywords Trajectory patterns · Life course approach
1 Introduction
The World Health Organization (WHO) World Report on Aging and Health (World
Health Organization, 2015) maintains that putative age-related loss of ability is only
loosely related to a person’s chronological age. There is no “typical” older person,
and the capacities of older adults vary greatly. Some 80-year-olds have physical and
mental capacities similar to those of much younger adults, while others experienced
substantial declines in capacity much earlier in life. Some 60- and 70-year-olds
require help from others to perform basic activities. However, the presence of a
Y. Taniguchi (*)
Center for Health and Environmental Risk Research, National Institute for Environmental
Studies, Ibaraki, Japan
Research Team for Social Participation and Community Health, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of
Gerontology, Tokyo, Japan
e-mail: taniguchi.yu@nies.go.jp
H. Matsushita
Graduate School of Informatics, Tokyo University of Information Sciences, Chiba-shi, Japan
e-mail: hm201628@rsch.tuis.ac.jp
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
H. Matsushita (ed.), Health Informatics, Translational Systems Sciences 24,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3781-3_4
59
in Health Indexes for Japanese Elders
and Systemic Change to Life Course
Approach
Yu Taniguchi and Hironobu Matsushita
Abstract This chapter discusses intrinsic capacity and functional ability in relation
to the framework described in the World Health Organization World Report on
Aging and Health. We have investigated health-related trajectories in communitydwelling Japanese older adults. Using data and information from the super-aged
society of Japan, the author developed a framework of policy and informatics of
healthy ageing that can be applied to ageing societies worldwide. This framework
applies to multiple entities, including communities, hospitals, nursing homes, and
countries. Translationality is the fundamental basis for the transition away from the
existing system.
Keywords Trajectory patterns · Life course approach
1 Introduction
The World Health Organization (WHO) World Report on Aging and Health (World
Health Organization, 2015) maintains that putative age-related loss of ability is only
loosely related to a person’s chronological age. There is no “typical” older person,
and the capacities of older adults vary greatly. Some 80-year-olds have physical and
mental capacities similar to those of much younger adults, while others experienced
substantial declines in capacity much earlier in life. Some 60- and 70-year-olds
require help from others to perform basic activities. However, the presence of a
Y. Taniguchi (*)
Center for Health and Environmental Risk Research, National Institute for Environmental
Studies, Ibaraki, Japan
Research Team for Social Participation and Community Health, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of
Gerontology, Tokyo, Japan
e-mail: taniguchi.yu@nies.go.jp
H. Matsushita
Graduate School of Informatics, Tokyo University of Information Sciences, Chiba-shi, Japan
e-mail: hm201628@rsch.tuis.ac.jp
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
H. Matsushita (ed.), Health Informatics, Translational Systems Sciences 24,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3781-3_4
59