- Providing necessary information about "sick child care" in a unified manner, which has not been well known until now
- THE INTRODUCTION OF ICT IS EXPECTED TO IMPROVE THE "CONVENIENCE" AND "FACILITY UTILIZATION RATE" OF SICK CHILDCARE.
- Providing the best environment for children with health problems and supporting their parents' employment
We spoke with...
CEO, CI Inc.
Masaki Sonoda
What is the surprisingly little-known current state of "sick child care"?
Editor: First of all, can you tell us about the current status of "sick child care"?
Sonoda: "Sick children" are children with minor illnesses, such as colds and influenza, but who cannot be cared for at daycare centers. The services we provide are targeted at "sick child care facilities" that take care of such children. In order to provide both "care for the sick" and "childcare", there are nursery teachers and nurses, and some facilities even have a hospital attached. There are actually about 1,750 such specialist facilities throughout Japan.
Editor: There are that many!
Sonoda: Yes. However, according to a survey of parents conducted by our company, 75% of the respondents said that they did not know about sick child care or only knew the name of it, and only 12% of the parents had actually used it. Therefore, one of our goals is to increase the awareness of sick childcare.
Sonoda: Another of the biggest challenges in the field of sick child care is the low utilization rate of facilities for sick children; according to a survey conducted by the Cabinet Office five years ago, the utilization rate of facilities for sick children was about 30%.
Editor: I see that 70% of the facilities that we have are not being used. ......
Sonoda: One possible reason for the lack of use is the complexity of the usage procedures. Please look at the following "Flow of using the sick child care service". To begin with, you have to pre-register with the facility before your child gets sick. Moreover, this registration is changed every fiscal year, so you have to re-register every year. In other words, parents who find out about childcare for sick children after their child has a fever are basically unable to use the service on the same day (the situation differs depending on the municipality). Furthermore, these systems and rules differ from municipality to municipality.
