The Diversity of Quality of Life Found at an Academic Conference Cruise in 2018

Chizuko HIOKI

Research Institute of Traditional Asian Medicine, Kindai University School of Medicine 377-2 Ohno-Higashi, Osaka-sayama, Osaka 589-8511, JAPAN (chioki@med.kindai.ac.jp)

I recently took part in the International Conference and Cruise on Quality of Life 2018 Cruise (ICQoL-2018) (departing from and returning to Singapore). Cruise-Conferences of this sort provide a suitable venue and an entirely unique atmosphere for the exchange of information and findings among researchers. As described by Foong, while on board, participants enjoyed a variety of entertainment and interactions with other participants, while being able to maintain good health and privacy while feeling at home. In the conference, as a member of the Academic Society for Quality of Life, I gave a presentation entitled: “Kampo (traditional medicine) helps us to control our mind and body through the endocrine, nervous and immune system.”

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It is difficult know whether the behavior of individual participants on a given moment on a cruise is a manifestation of the typical customs and values in their home country. However, if one is given the leisure and space to spend a 7-day cruise with them on the same boat at sea, and interact in and out as a group, one can come to feel less sensitive and conscious of the gap between of one’s own existence/life and that of other people. Thinking about QoL as a member of Academic Society for Quality of Life, I came to realize that cruising may be a useful way to discover the national characters of people from other countries.

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Japan's growing aging population and a shortage of local working staff has led to necessary employment of nursing care workers from foreign countries, especially those who have grown up in Asian countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines, for elderly care.⁶ Caregivers are required to help care for the physically handicapped or incapable elderly in all aspects of daily life in order to maintain and improve their QoL. However, both of these—the care-giver and the care-receiver—are humans with feelings. The improvement of the QoL of not only the person who receives care, but also the person who is providing care must be considered. In short, for this human-human relationship to maintain in good balance, and for the interdependent system to be workable, an effort to acknowledge and accept each other's lifestyle and values should be exercised. A balance in Ki between the parties should be healthily circulated.

We may find that the quality of life is a degree of happiness that each person evaluates and measured individually. Happiness in life may be gained by devising a way of life derived from learning various patterns of behavior and thinking from the people surrounding us.

Furthermore, not only in the area of elderly care, if the upheaval of the society and the natural environment continues, there will be times when multilateral assistance is needed never more than now.