＜Yakult Miyakonojo Sales＞
Towards communities where everone can lead healthy, happy lives
To contribute to people’s health and happiness, the Yakult Group not only delivers products that are beneficial for health, but also carries out a wide variety of activities to support regional communities, such as dispatching guest lecturers and holding health-related lectures.
At Yakult Miyakonojo Sales Co., Ltd., those activities have been taken one step further through initiatives providing accurate knowledge and information about dementia, so that those with dementia and their families may live with peace of mind.
Contributing to health as a company engaged in local communities
Yakult Miyakonojo Sales oversees the south area of Miyazaki Prefecture and part of Kagoshima Prefecture, delivering products to about 600 offices and 21,000 households.
The company actively holds health-related lectures and other initiatives while promoting business activities.
“We’re striving to create communities where everyone can lead healthy, happy lives.
The aging population is a significant issue in our area, and the number of individuals with dementia is increasing.
We’re closely connected to communities through our home delivery of products.
Using this as our strength, we promote our initiatives while thinking about what we can do for local communities in such societal circumstances.”
Yoichi Oki, President, Yakult Miyakonojo Sales Co., Ltd.
Yoichi Oki
President
Yakult Miyakonojo Sales Co., Ltd.
Toshihiro Kanda
Senior Managing Director
Yakult Miyakonojo Sales Co., Ltd.
“Based on this notion, since 2009 we have promoted participation in the Dementia Supporters Training Program*1, and almost all of our employees and Yakult Ladies have completed the program and become Dementia Supporters.
Of these employees, 23 are Caravan-Mate*2 lecturers, making up around 10% of the registered Caravan-Mates in Miyakonojo City.
Currently employees serve as lecturers, running courses that provide information to communities.
Furthermore, we also cooperate with local organizations to hold health-related lectures about improving health for the elderly and those with dementia.”
Toshihiro Kanda, Senior Managing Director, Yakult Miyakonojo Sales Co., Ltd.
*1 Dementia Supporters Training Program
Dementia Supporters are those who have a proper understanding of dementia and aid, support, and watch over the people with dementia and their families. The supporters wear an orange wristband called an Orange Ring during their activities.
The program is led by the National Caravan-Mate Coordinating Committee, and one of the programs in the Comprehensive Strategy to Accelerate Dementia Measures (New Orange Plan) promoted by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
*2 Caravan-Mate
Trainers for the Dementia Supporters Training Program, who completed the Caravan-Mate training program after becoming Dementia Supporters.
Dementia Supporter Caravan
http://www.caravanmate.com/(Japanese)
Orange Ring, the symbol of Dementia Supporters
Making techniques to prevent and support dementia easy to understand
We spoke with employees who serve as lecturers in the Dementia Supporters Training Program and for other health-related lectures.
“At Dementia Supporter Training Program, we keep things simple while incorporating our own experiences and incidents picked up by the media.
We want everyone to know that becoming elderly is a road we all travel down, and dementia is not a special illness.
When people realize it can happen to anyone, and when they have knowledge beforehand, it lessens the burden.”
Sayoko Mori, Manager, Home Delivery Management Section 1, Sales Department, Yakult Miyakonojo Sales Co., Ltd.
“When trainees discuss their personal experiences, they often say, ‘I wish I’d had this kind of knowledge before.’
Still only a limited number of people know about our initiatives, and I feel we need to continue by increasing our activities.”
Kayo Sakai, Assistant Manager, Home Delivery Management Section 2, Sales Department, Yakult Miyakonojo Sales Co., Ltd.
Sayoko Mori (Center), Manager, Home
Delivery Management Section 1, Sales Department
Kayo Sakai (right), Assistant Manager, Home
Delivery Management Section 2, Sales Department
Mayumi Oguri (left), Senior Staff, Direct Sales Department
Yakult Miyakonojo Sales Co., Ltd.
“I serve as a lecturer for health-related seminars.
To prevent dementia it’s important to avoid lifestyle diseases and also maintain the health of your intestines.
There are many different kinds of trainees, and we’ve even explained how to speak to people with dementia or symptoms of it to elementary school students using a picture story show.
We also use large text and different colors to make information easy to understand for the elderly and others who need it.”
Mayumi Oguri, Senior Staff, Direct Sales Department, Yakult Miyakonojo Sales Co., Ltd.
Aiming for communities where everone can lead healthy. happy lives
These dementia initiatives have changed the awareness of the company’s employees.
From 2016, at the request of employees, the company began the Ai-Support Movement* to encourage understanding of disabilities and train people to provide simple daily assistance to those with disabilities.
The company strives towards creation of communities where everyone can lead a healthy, happy life ? including those with dementia or disabilities, and from the elderly to children.
* Ai-Support Movement
This movement works towards achieving a society that is easily livable for everyone, regardless of ability or disability.
Participants become Ai-Supporters who are able to provide simple assistance with daily life to those who have disabilities.
It was started in 2009 in Tottori Prefecture.
WEB Ai-Support Movement
http://aisupporter.jp/ (Japanese)
TOPIC
Learning sign language during morning assemblies
As part of creating communities where everyone can lead healthy, happy lives, in December 2015 Yakult Miyakonojo introduced sign language lessons as part of morning assemblies at delivery centers and the company’s head office.
Employees learn together how to sign 50 Japanese syllables, numbers, and simple greetings.
Sign language is also integrated into the new employee training program, and the company also invites outside lecturers to monthly study sessions.
Morning assembly at Yakult Miyakonojo head office
VOICE
-
Their easy-to-understand and useful health-related lectures are always popular
Ritsuko Kobayashi
Women's Group Director
Council of Golden Age
Club in Himegi Area,
MiyakonojoUp until now, they’ve run healthrelated lectures with themes like balanced diet and digestive health.
The 2016 theme was dementia, and lectures taught about specific symptoms and how to deal with them.
The lectures are popular for being both easy to understand and useful, and a large number of seniors participate each time.
They also utilize different organizational devices, like adding stretching exercises in the middle of classroom learning.
The lecturers are always easily approachable, and we feel very close to them. -
They provide us with various ideas on how to tackle dementia throughout the region
Katsunobu Ota
Manager
Motoko Syudo
Community Welfare and Servie Division
Miyakonojo City Council of Social WelfarreLocal government, citizens and companies must work together in carefully dealing with the issue of dementia.
Yakult Miyakonojo Sales is passionate about dealing with dementia, and they always provide valuable opinions as a member of the Dementia Supporting System Promotion Committee.
They also dispatch many Caravan-Mates to teach Dementia Supporter Training Programs, and we’re looking forward to continuing to work with them on a system that makes an even better environment for Caravan-Mates.