世帯形態からみた地域在住高齢者の支援―単独世帯に焦点をあてて―

抄録

We conducted a questionnaire survey targeting support for elderly people living in a community.We focused on elderly people living alone. The survey was conducted in 2000 in A-village of Okinawa prefecture. Of 911 people aged 65 years and over who received the questionnaire, 707(87.4%) responded. The survey items were self-related health levels, how often they left theirhouses, how often they had conversations with neighbors, the Philadelphia Geriatric Center (PGC)Moral Scale, activities of daily living (ADL) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology(TMIG) Index of Competence. Among the respondents, elderly people living alone had fewer children than other elderly people. On the PGC Moral Scale there was a statistically significant low score for males livingalone. They answered ?gI am afraid of a lot of things?h, ?gI often feel lonely?h and ?gI don't see enough of my friends, relatives and families?h more frequently than did other elderly people. There was also a statistically significant low score on Social Role, a subscale of the TMIG Index Competence, for males living alone. The findings suggest the need to improve the current system and to provide social supportfor elderly males living alone.