Geriatric Health Services Facility Hitorizawa: Ton-Ton Voice Sumo

As people get older their throat function declines. It becomes more difficult to breathe and to swallow food. The best way to recover throat function is increased vocalization. However, the rehabilitation for this is not fun at all, and therefore the elderly reluctantly used their voices at Hitorizawa health services facility.We developed a fun method of rehabilitation"TON-TON VOICE SUMO" in cooperation with occupational therapists. The sumo ring vibrates with the px-layers' voice as they say "TON-TON",meaning "Go! Go!"which then moves the sumo wrestlers in this mechanism. Choking is the leading cause of accidental death in the elderly, according to annual report of Japan ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. To prevent this, we had discussions with occupational therapists and found out increased vocalization improves throat function. To maximise elderly's interest, we chose the most popular sport for them, Sumo wrestling, as a base of this rehabilitation.