Reality of the Diabetic Elders who Practice Self-injection of Insulin at Home. Independence Degree of Elders and Support of Health Care Workers

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to reveal the reality of the self-injection of insulin practiced by the diabetic elders at home.

11 elders who obtain home ser vices and their assisters have been sur veyed to collect data by participatory observation, and its course has been classified by reference to the nursing system of Orem from the viewpoint of how independent the self-injection was.

As a result, the following types were classified, and their characteristic care by the nurses, care manager and helper were observed as follows :

Independent type, in which they suffer physical difficulty, but with no sign of cognitive impairment.

Cognitive dysfunctional type, in which they suffer cognitive impairment and forget injection

Physically unstable type, un which self-injection becomes difficult as complications progress, which leads deconditioning.

Taken care of type, in which they rely on others for injection because of heavy mental and physical disability.

In order to maintain self-care, which is predicted to move from independent type to taken care of type, as much as possible, it is important that the care manager and the visiting nurses predict the change in selfcare and provide assistance at the right timing.