2010 Volume 32 Issue 3 Pages 317-327
Aging people are rapidly increasing in Japan and nursing care for the demented elderly is a serious problem. Structure of nursing care staff’s experiences was investigated from an interactive standpoint by conducting interviews with staff of daycare services for demented elderly persons. Exploratory analysis was conducted on data from participant observation. Then a structural model was developed and examined. Results indicated that staff recognized care to include “accepting and supporting the users,” feeling interactivity about supporting, and the importance of psychological perspectives of support. They sympathized with the demented users, and their families, and with their own work colleagues. Simultaneously, they felt that they could not understand the demented users and felt a sense of powerlessness. Moreover, they experienced the dilemma of doubts about their colleagues and users’ families. It is suggested that reducing this dilemma and perceiving the users comprehensively were important for developing the staff’s understanding of the users, and for developing self-esteem, as well as for improving the quality of nursing care and mental health of the staff.
