Abstract
This study focuses on the support services available to patients with severe motor and intellectual disabilities who need medical services (hereinafter referred as “SMID”) and their families. The study reveals how the main in-home daily-life services are actually used, and outlines the problems and challenges in using such services from the families’ point of view. It also considers what kind of future in-home support services should be provided to such patients and their care givers. The investigation disclosed that patients with SMID and their care giving families often live in difficult conditions, and revealed the problems and challenges in supporting such patients from infancy. The study shows that both experts and supporters face the following problems in constructing future in-home services: 1) Understanding the characteristics of patients with SMID and their care givers, and recognizing their latent needs; 2) Coping with the need to expand small multifunctional facilities; 3) Recognizing the need to attach greater importance to the relationships between the patients with SMID and their caregivers in providing medical care; and 4) Recognizing the need for measures to support caregivers while guaranteeing the quality of their lives.
