Abstract
“TOJIKOMORI”in English means shutting oneself in a room, or house, something akin to withdrawal in general. It is pointed out that“TOJIKOMORI”syndrome among home elderly results in mobility decline. The purpose of this study is to examine the structure of the“TOJIKOMORI”and extract factors that affect that the“TOJIKOMORI”phenomenon from the perspective of nurses.
Twenty-three home health nurses and public health nurses were conducted the semi-structured interview about home elderly who declined or improved in ADL. Transcripts were analyzed using the qualitative methods.
Results showed as follows. The“TOJIKOMORI”phenomenon was defined as disabled elderly who were bound to house or bed. Also mobility and the variety of daily activities contributed to the structure of the“TOJIKOMORI”phenomenon.
Two kinds of“TOJIKOMORI”were suggested by the data:“TOJIKOMORI”in a narrow sense was defined as housebound- inactive elderly, though their mobility level was high.“TOJIKOMERARE”(It means the passive of“TOJIKOMORI”) was identified as limitation of daily life within house due to disability. But in some cases, elderly were confined their home, they engaged in various activities. That is not classified as the“TOJIKOMORI”phenomenon.
Factors related to the“TOJIKOMORI”phenomenon among elderly were disability acceptance, autonomy, depression, housing environment, social networks, utilization of formal services, approaches for encouraging elderly to sit or taking them out, and family caregiving function.
