Asian Journal of Human Services Vol. 12(2017)

This study examined the nutritional status and mental/physical functions of care-dependent individuals living in residential homes for the elderly, focusing on malnutrition as a leading cause of the progression of care dependency, to clarify the associations among them. A status survey was conducted, involving 147 care-dependent individuals living in 3 residential homes with care services for the elderly in Tokyo and Kanagawa. When focusing on physical functions, the Alb level was higher among residents exhibiting higher total ADL20 scores; based on this, approaches to prevent decreases in the nutritional status may be essential for the maintenance of ADL independence. This tendency was particularly marked when examining scores from the following ADL20 subscales: <indoor walking>, <ascending/descending stairs>, and <outdoor walking>, as the Alb level was higher among those who were able to perform these activities more independently. Regarding cognitive functions, the Alb level was lower when the total CDR score and scores from the following subscales indicated higher severity: <memory>, <orientation>, <judgment>, <social adaptation>, <family situation>, and <care situation>. This highlights the necessity of continuous nutritional management as a preventive measure against dementia. This study is suggesting the necessity of performing nutritional management, such as maintaining and restoring a favorable nutritional status in residential homes for the elderly lead a healthy and mentally and physically independent life.

Objective: In this study, we clarified the current status of international nursing education at the national university and investigated issues related to education in the future. Method: Self-administered questionnaires were distributed by mail to the educators responsible for international nursing education (one per university) at 42 nursing departments of national universities. The survey period was from July 1st to September 30th 2016. Results: Responses were received from all 20 universities with full-time educators. For the 22 universities without full-time educators, information was collected by phone, email, and from the homepage of their specific university. As a result, information was obtained for all 42 universities. Of these, 85.7% implemented international nursing education and 52.4% have established it as a compulsory subject. In all, there were 61.9% universities with full-time nurses acting as academic advisors. Most of educators considered that “understanding of different cultures,” “world health policies,” and “content relating to international cooperation” were essential contents for education in the future. Discussion: As 52.4% of the universities that were surveyed treated international nursing as a compulsory subject, it is considered that whether or not one receives lectures on international nursing education is largely effected by the system of the university and the choice of the student. Regarding issues in the future, the construction of a curriculum aiming for the development of human resources with the capacity for practical application and rich in internationality is necessary.

This desk work study is based on data of some relevant survey, related reports and articles. To study benefit, the paper compares employment of major occupation and level of education and unemployment rate on level of education. It finds evidence of better job position by level of education whilst unemployment rate increases gradually from No-Education level to HSC level; Drops down at the graduation level and then gradually increase at the Masters level. Again, to study wage differentials, the paper compares wage contribution by different level of education attainment. It finds evidence of highest wage rate found in the level Class I-V whereas Technical and vocational level have the lowest wage rate. More interestingly is found that higher education level has lower wage rate than lower education level. Lastly, for both benefits and wage differentials, level of education attainment has less significance among themselves.

In this study, we examined the changes in independence levels of old residents after the shift living environment from conventional care and shared rooms toward unit care and private rooms. The study involved 38 (male: 7; female: 31; mean age: 86.2) residents of a special nursing home, which was changed from a conventional to unit-type facility as a shift toward unit care. Their care levels based on the Long-term Care Insurance System were 4 or higher in 70% of all cases. Their levels of ADL independence were measured using the FIM before (pre-) and after (post-shift period) the shift, and the following mean scores were obtained from each FIM sub-scale during the pre- and post-shift periods: <bladder management>: 2.47 and 2.32; <transfers - toilet>: 3.16 and 2.81; and <memory>: 3.3 and 3.05, respectively, revealing a significant decrease in the independence level after the shift. This indicates the necessity of providing care for individuals using such facilities, particularly elderly residents, in consideration of their adaptability to environmental changes and those in care service systems.

Regular physical activity(PA) is recognised as playing a key role in promoting good health and tackling obesity. In many parts of the world there are concerns that people do not undertake sufficient PA, and that this problem is often worse for certain groups in the population. Low levels of PA amongst South Asian (SA) adults in the United Kingdom concern health policy makers and professionals because of the higher incidence of heart disease in this group than in the general population. Interventions have helped increase PA levels in white populations but have shown little success in engaging SA adults. One explanation is that interventions emphasise individual responsibility for health and pay relatively less attention to socio-cultural constraints on behaviour. Using qualitative, semi-structured interviews, we investigated influences on PA amongst 13 SA adults (aged 23-70) living in Halifax, Yorkshire, UK. The setting for our study was the participants’ community gym. A key aim was to identify characteristics of the gym that influenced usage by the local SA population. We found the gym had successfully engaged SA adults in a programme of regular PA, and that a sense of its “embeddedness” in the local community was crucial to this. Implications for practice and research in health promotion and obesity prevention are discussed.

In this paper we present the results of two small scale, pilot studies which explore the use of a small hand-held monitor used for measuring the relative levels of the digestive enzyme, Amylase, in the saliva of a population of adolescent children with intellectual disabilities, who experienced a music concert. Our hypothesis was that experiencing the concert would significantly reduce the levels of stress in each individual and thus promote an increased level of wellbeing. The study also focussed on exploring the extent to which salivary amylase activity (SAA) can be measured and used as an indicator of relative changes in levels of stress and ultimately, to see the extent to which such measurements could give ‘voice’ to individuals with intellectual disability. In the event, our hypothesis was not supported in that participants did not display decreased levels of SAA to a level of significance. However, further analysis and triangulation of the initial results through the case notes of each individual suggested that in fact the SAA measures were accurate and that the expectation that all participants would respond in an identical fashion, had been un-realistic.