Abstract
With the aim of strengthening cooperation between hospitals specializing in tertiary care of CLI and other medical facilities providing daily foot care, a regional foot care team of CLI, named “JOYFUL”, was launched. Patient information forms and lower limb treatment notebooks for JOYFUL were developed. Treatment can now be initiated at an early stage just after lower limb abnormalities are found. Graphical information has since increased to approximately 60%, reflecting the increased use of this information tool. Nurses at hospitals and dialysis clinics accounted for 90% of participants, whereas the number of visiting nurses and nursing care facilities was insufficient. Assessment of the social background of CLI revealed that many patients who needed care were living alone or were elderly caregivers for the elderly. Although nursing care facilities and home nursing care are considered to have an important gatekeeper role in the future, their cooperation is insufficient. We hope to gain more recognition for JOYFUL and to build a framework for regional cooperative treatment that enables all patients to receive equivalent foot care, including patients receiving home nursing care and those at residential nursing care facilities.
