As part of its efforts to improve quality of life (QOL) for residents of its senior citizen nursing homes, Benesse Style Care has established an in-house professional certification system (known as the Majikami system) designed to recognize the expertise of nursing care staff. In 2022, it began operations of “sensing homes” that promote the development of the Majikami AI Solution, a solution which encapsulates instructor data based on the know-how and perspectives of these expert staff, as it continues to pursue the challenge of nursing care DX (digital transformation) that fuses technology and innately human perceptions. The main aims are to allow seniors to live a life that closely matches their individual personality and to help nursing care staff feel joy and a sense of fulfillment in their work assisting these lifestyles. In this article, we hear from frontline nursing care staff on how they are utilizing technology to achieve these objectives.

Majikami is rooted in nursing care staff’s appreciation for “god-like” knowledge and practical expertise

The phrase “majikami” was born from events in nursing care homes. When support nursing care staff with high levels of expertise were introduced to help overcome issues in the care of residents with dementia, they managed to elicit smiles from the residents via the application of care that reflected both existing lifestyle records and the current mood of the resident. Seeing this caused younger staff members to begin referring to these staff as “god-like” (majikami in Japanese).

One such “god-like” staff member, Benesse Style Care’s Yuko Edamatsu, works on initiatives to raise the level of nursing care at all homes and as an in-house training instructor. She believes it is difficult to find the correct method of care for each resident that addresses differences in their respective circumstances and needs. Given this backdrop, Ms. Edamatsu says that staff need to both acquire a breadth of expert knowledge on topics such as nursing care, pharmaceuticals, and diseases, and to imagine a lifestyle that closely matches the individual personality and situation of the resident based on study of various existing records and information. Only then are they equipped to take action that addresses “what is needed at this moment.”

“I have been told I can do these things because I have a natural sense for nursing care, but this supposed “god-like” care that I am able to provide is essentially just action grounded in knowledge backed up by scientific evidence and in experience.” (Ms. Yuko Edamatsu, Majikami nursing care provider, Expertise Development Section, Benesse Style Care)

Technology has been utilized for several years on the frontline of Benesse’s nursing care, with one such example being trials of sensors that measure sleep state. Discussing one particular case, Ms. Edamatsu stated that “Despite an upturn in the sleep sensor data, the resident was often not very lively. The staff wondered amongst themselves about whether this was just how this person was, but after trying various things such as consulting with doctors and changing the pharmaceutical regimen, the resident returned to their normal outgoing characters and began to enjoy life again. Even if everything in the data looks fine, that does not necessarily mean the resident’s QOL is improving, and they are living the life they want.”

Using AI to enable inexperienced staff to quickly experience the joy of work

Providing nursing care that gets the resident closer to a lifestyle that matches their individual personality is becoming increasingly important for well-being in the super-aging society. Benesse Style Care is continuing to develop and utilize the Majikami AI Solution to leverage the knowledge of Majikami certified staff. The daily records and sensor data from the nursing care frontline and AI-based instructor data infused with the deep understanding of expert Majikami certified staff are used in developing and training nursing care personnel.

Sharing the know-how of expert staff allows staff with less experience to quickly feel a sense of achievement and the joy of work, helping to keep them in the nursing care industry.

Ms. Edamatsu said that participating in the development of the Majikami AI Solution has helped her understand what machines can do and what can only be done by humans.
“I realized a number of things from the sensor data. If we can use the Majikami AI Solution to share how Majikami certified staff use their experience and knowledge to spot which types of key data relate to each other, then that should be useful in training more personnel. In addition, thinking deeply about how we can help residents live a life that closely matches their individual personality is an important role that only humans can fulfill.”


The real goal of using technology is to improve the QOL of residents. To that end, the Majikami AI Solution provides support for the things only humans can do and results in higher quality services.

Toward a society in which seniors can live more fulfilling lives. Helping people see that a job which makes this a reality is meaningful work.

Granda Yotsuya (Tokyo), the nursing home at which trials for Majikami AI Solution were conducted, opened in March 2022. Multiple sensors were installed in each room to capture data on residents’ daily rhythm and health condition, and this data provided the groundwork for initiatives linking experts from various fields to improve QOL. Utilizing the Majikami AI Solution enables us to create a society which helps residents live a life that closely matches their individual personality and to cooperate with other companies with a similar aim.

The fundamental essence of Benesse nursing care is to provide services that you yourself or your family would want, and we aim to create a sense of joy and sense of fulfillment among staff in the business as well as to transform the Japanese nursing care sphere. We will continue attempting new challenges that goes beyond traditional concepts.

Information

・Benesse Style Care (Japanese version only)
https://www.benesse-style-care.co.jp/