On June 26, 2021, the 6th lecture of WEBINAR SERIES 2021 “LIVING IN THE NEW NORMAL AND BEYOND” was held by JSPS Alumni Association of the Philippines (JAAP) in partnership with Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the Central Luzon Research and Development Consortium.

The lecture was opened by welcome remarks by Dr. Julius Caesar V. Sicat, Regional Director, Department of Science and Technology, which was followed by Dr. Danilda Haufana-Duran, President of JAAP, JSPS RONPAKU and BRIDGE Fellow, and Scientist I, Philippine Carabao Center.

After the opening remarks by Dr. Danilda, Dr. Leah J. Buendia, Assistant Secretary for International Cooperation, Department of Science and Technology and Dr. Yoshio Otani, Director of JSPS Bangkok Office delivered inspirational messages, respectively.

Following the remarks and messages, presentation entitled “Arts on Prescription: Pathways to Wellbeing and Dementia Care” was presented by Dr. Herb L. Fondevilla, Institute of Island Studies, Meiji University.

In the seminar, Dr. Herb mentioned the situation and efforts in Japan regarding dementia. In 2002 in Japan, 47.5% of disable elderly people who needed assistance had dementia. Moreover, the number was predicted to double in 20 years. Therefore, Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare of Japan announced a “Five-Year Plan of the Promotion Measures Against Dementia: Orange Plan” including the establishment of orange café, which supports Persons Living With Dementia (PLWD). In Orange Café, PLWD cook, craft, sing, and play the music together under the teaching from volunteers. Also, as one of the approaches for PLWD, reminiscence arts were introduced in the seminar. In the reminiscence arts, PLWD paint pictures of their memorable period, which is called the Memories In the Making (MIM) program. In MIM program, PLWD are also able to recall their memories to share their personal stories, such as their childhood, marriage, work, etc., with others.

According to Dr. Herb’s point, however, there are problems to support PLWD. Some PLWD are too shy to join activities to share their personal stories. In addition, some volunteers or staffs in charge of the programs were not trained enough to communicate with PLWD.

After the presentation, lots of questions were made from participants, about the best program to work for PWLD, or measurement of the effectiveness of them, and so on. For these questions, Dr. Herb answered clearly from her knowledges and her experiences.

Finally, Dr. Maria Rowena Eguia, Vice president of JAAP delivered closing remarks.

The lecture ended successfully with about 160 participants.