Health problems and actual contents of self-care of single-living elderly Analysis of the survey of single-living elderly in a public housing estate
2016 Volume 4 Issue 1 Pages 69-75
Details
2016 Volume 4 Issue 1 Pages 69-75
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to grasp health problems and anxiety of single-living elderly, to understand the actual situation of the self-care performed by the elderly in order to avoid and reduce them, and to discuss the problems in maintaining their safe and secure life.
Method
A public housing estate in a rural area located in the east of Shizuoka prefecture was selected, and interview-based investigation was performed to single-living elderly at their home. The survey contents included actual situation of the self-care such as preparation for emergency and existence of persons who can support them.
Result
Responses were obtained from 52 out of 89 targeted subjects (response rate 58.4%). It was found that 84.6% of them visited hospitals for treatment and 59.6% had anxiety about their health. In the past three years, 25.0% of them experienced domestic accidents and 34.6% experienced sudden physical deconditioning. Thirty-eight of them (57.6%) reported that their separately-living families were the only people who could support them, and five of them (9.6%) had nobody to support them. It was also revealed that the proportion of those who prepared for emergency was 62.7%, or 75.0% of the old-old (aged 75 or older). The specific contents of such preparations were medical history information card, preparing for unexpected admission and so on.
Conclusion
Self-care ability of the elderly should be improved for the safe and secure life of single-living elderly. However, ensuring safe and secure life only by improving their own self-care ability and awareness would be difficult. The present findings that approximately 10% of single-living elderly had nobody to support them and more than 60% were to be supported by separately-living families, suggests the necessity of social and systematic assistance for single-living elderly that complement and support their self-care.
