2020 Volume 24 Issue 1 Pages 27-41
Our purpose was to clarify the significance of the living environment in a nursing facility designed with Japanese-style architecture for demented elderly in helping them express themselves from the cultural aspect. Participant observation was conducted for A, a demented elderly person, and staff who interacted with A at facility K in Kagawa Prefecture. Staff were also interviewed. Scenes reflecting the living environment were extracted focusing on the contexts, coded, and categorized, and then, relevance with A was described. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Kagawa University School of Medicine.
There were three categories of the meanings of the living environment for A that helped him express his feelings (“a place to feel at home and at ease”; “a place to maintain the feeling of being at work”; “a place to repeatedly take challenges and react to the outcomes”), and 8 codes. The staff’s efforts to create an environment where clients can feel at home and are involved like family members and the physical environment of the Japanese-style facility provided “a place to feel at home and at ease”.
The staff observed A’s behaviors without disturbing him since they believed that there are reasons behind the behaviors of demented elderly. It was assumed that A considered this facility as “a place to maintain the feeling of being at work” and “a place to repeatedly take challenges and react to the outcomes”. A dealt with his past regrets by repeatedly re-experiencing and looking back over the past while feeling at ease. This was supported by the living environment that allowed A to repeatedly recall his past, and by the staff who involved A as their family member. The results suggested the importance of people who closely listened to and embraced what A expressed.
