Dr. Deeken standing in front of his alma mater, Fordham University

Dr. Alfons Deeken, philosopher, catholic priest and professor emeritus at Tokyo’s Sophia University, has devoted his life to the study of life and death, helping to advance hospice awareness in Japan for many years. This past September, he visited the United States, researching various forms of American hospices. This coming December 8th, with support from The Nippon Foundation, he will deliver a lecture at Chiba University, entitled, “Thinking About Life.”

Medical and welfare officials visiting a hospice in the U.S.

Dr. Deeken was born in Germany and studied philosophy at Fordham University in the United States. He had the opportunity there to learn advanced hospice and wanted to introduce his knowledge to Japan. However, for many years, death was a taboo subject here, and there was a great deal of misunderstanding and prejudice against hospice. He had the following to say in a recent interview.

In playroom of the Ronald McDonald House

Past activities: “I realized from the start that if we could not overcome this country’s taboo of death, we could not expect hospice to take root here. Though many opposed me, I began to teach about death at Sophia University, and little by little began to introduce the principles of hospice to Japanese society. For 20 years now, I have conducted training tours for officials of health and welfare organizations to study advanced hospice in Ireland, the UK, Germany, Australia and the US. I believe that it is important to not only learn from books, but also to see the state of various hospitals and learn from experience. One doctor, who participated in this training, built a hospice after returning to Japan. I think this was a remarkable achievement.”

At Fordham University

Regarding his recent study tour: “I felt that the United States places great importance on home care a great importance. American Hospice Association has a rule that patients must receive 80% of their hospice treatment at home. Japan, on the other hand thinks that patients must stay at hospice facilities. It will be important in this country, in the future, for Japan also to emphasize in-home care. American hospices have a duty to give “grief care” to bereaved family for 13 months following the patient’s death. They see the patient and family as one unit.”

Dr. Deeken using a P.C at the Library of Fordham University

The future of hospice in Japan: “I think it great that Japanese are enriching their understanding about hospice today, and that there are now 200 hospices around the nation, including palliative care units. But we still have a major task ahead of us in developing in-home hospice care. To increase such in-home care, the country needs to develop sufficient support structures for families. There are risks that families will burnout, but good hospice care will include service at day-care hospices as well.”