Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Issues Outcome Report for "Daily Life Support Utilization Model Project" | A Single Volume Documenting Practices and Verifications Challenging the "Disruption of Learning" After Graduation from Special Needs Schools

Ainomi Social Welfare Corporation (Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture) has published an outcome report summarizing the results of initiatives implemented as the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's subsidized project, "Model Creation Project for Daily Life Support Utilization After Graduation from Special Needs Schools."

The outcome report, titled "Ai no Kiseki" — Implementing Learning in "Daily Life Support" — A Record and Verification of the Challenge, documents and verifies how to create an environment where severely disabled individuals can continue to learn and grow in their own way within daily life support settings, without losing opportunities for learning and growth even after graduating from special needs schools. The PDF version of the outcome report is available on Ainomi's official website, which also provides information on how to request a printed version.

**Practices Addressing the "Disruption of Learning" After Graduation as a MHLW Project**

In recent years, systems supporting children and adults with medical care needs have advanced. The report notes that while the Medical Care Needs Support Act (a law positioning support for children with medical care needs and their families as a social responsibility), enacted in 2021, has gradually improved the environment for receiving education in the community, new challenges remain after the school-age period. Even if individualized education and growth opportunities are guaranteed in special needs schools, in daily life support (disability welfare services that provide care and activity support during the day), which individuals transition to after graduation, care inevitably becomes the primary focus due to systemic reasons, and the provision of learning opportunities is often not sufficiently considered. The result is the so-called "18-year-old wall" and the "disruption of learning."

**"Ai no Kiseki" — Implementing Learning in "Daily Life Support" — A Record and Verification of the Challenge (Diagram)**

This project was implemented to directly address this disruption. The systemic objectives of this MHLW subsidized project are to provide lifelong learning opportunities in daily life support, improve living skills through learning and realize an inclusive society, and to build and disseminate models that can be utilized by other facilities. In other words, this project was not merely an initiative of a single facility but also an empirical effort to re-examine the very nature of post-graduation support.

**How Lifelong Learning Was Implemented in Daily Life Support Settings**

The implementing body is Ainomi Social Welfare Corporation, and the implementing facility is the daily life support facility "Ainomi Blueberry" (Izumi Ward, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture). The project was organized as a project under the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's Comprehensive Support for Persons with Disabilities Project Subsidy (carried over from FY2024) and proceeded for approximately six months from the decision of grant until March 2026.

**At Ainomi Blueberry Daily Life Support**

At the site, emphasis was placed on seamlessly integrating learning into daily activities rather than separating it as "special training." To achieve this, a "Lifelong Learning Lab" with permanent equipment was established to enable activities to start immediately, and an environment was created to capture users' "I want to do it now" moments. Additionally, efforts were made to verify a support model utilizing iPads and the eye-tracking device "Hiru" (a device operated by eye movements), and to digitalize support records (DX) using AI voice recorders, thereby establishing mechanisms that are easy to implement even in busy settings.

**"Ai no Kiseki" — Implementing Learning in "Daily Life Support" — A Record and Verification of the Challenge (Diagram)**

The report describes the "15-minute wall" as the time-consuming preparation required for conventional large-scale equipment, which often causes users to lose their motivation. To overcome this wall, the establishment of permanent equipment, reduction of record-keeping burden, and creation of an environment where staff can focus on the individual in front of them are practical and insightful contents for daily life support and severe disability support settings.

**Verifying a Model That Can Be Continued On-Site, Reflecting Expert Knowledge**

This project proceeded by reflecting expert knowledge in ICT utilization, eye-tracking, evaluation design, and support environment creation, based on practical experience in daily life support settings. The report indicates that it was promoted under an "industry-academia-welfare partnership" that combined the practical knowledge of welfare sites with the power of academic institutions and technology development. A characteristic of this project is that it not only introduced new equipment but also verified how to capture users' motivation and self-determination, how to record subtle reactions, and how to connect them to subsequent support.

**Mr. Isamu Fukushima, External Expert**

The report also does not merely list "what went well." It organizes problems actually encountered on-site, including工夫 (ingenuity) in fixtures, the completeness of apps, responses to environmental conditions, and systemic challenges. Therefore, for welfare, medical, and educational professionals, it can be read as a practical document for making introduction decisions and considering future developments, rather than just an introduction to ideals.

**Contents Included in the Outcome Report**

The outcome report issued this time is structured to cover everything from the organization of the social background to implementation, evaluation, individual cases, dissemination, and policy recommendations in a single volume. For general readers, it helps understand "why this project was necessary."