Objective : To verify the effectiveness of urination care training for care workers.

Methods : Urination care training using the “Kainyo-flowchart,” which illustrates the flow of urination care for older people with dementia, was conducted with 25 care workers engaged in in-home services. Participants self-evaluated their urination care self-efficacy and urination care implementation status before and after the training using a standardized scale.

Results : The total score of the urination care self-efficacy scale significantly increased after the training. Notably, two sub-items, “Engaging as a trusted supporter” and “Listening to and empathizing with excretion problems,” showed significant improvement. While there was no significant difference in the overall score for urination care implementation status, specific items, such as “Anticipating movements and gestures indicating the urge to urinate” and “Checking whether an individual is awake or sleepless due to the urge to urinate during nighttime trips to the toilet,” improved after the training.

Discussion : Urination care training incorporating case sharing, lectures, and practice sessions may enhance care workers’self-efficacy in providing urination care by encouraging reflection on care practices for older people with dementia.

This study aimed to examine the association between the number of nursing visits in the first two weeks and subsequent hospitalization or institutionalization through a retrospective review of home-visit nursing records. We included 468 patients aged 65 and over who completed home-visit nursing services at the Nana-r Home-visit Nursing Station from April 2016 to December 2023. A logistic regression analysis was conducted with hospitalization or institutionalization as the dependent variable and the number of nursing visits within the first two weeks as the independent variable. Covariates included age, gender, terminal diagnosis (life expectancy < 6 months), family involvement, and the degree of independence for disabled and demented elderly. Analyses were conducted using JMP (Version 17.2) with the significance level set at 5%. The cohort comprised 236 men (50.4%) and had a median age of 83 years (IQR:78-89). End outcomes were home death (n = 163, 34.8%), hospitalization (n = 152, 32.5%), improvement (n = 84, 17.9%), and institutionalization (n = 69, 14.7%). The median number of visits was 4 (IQR:2-10). The odds ratio (95% confidence interval) for hospitalization or institutionalization in relation to the number of nursing visits in the first two weeks of home-visit nursing was 0.93 (0.89-0.97). These findings suggest that the number of nursing visits during the initial two weeks is likely associated with subsequent hospitalization or institutionalization among older adults receiving home care.

This study was conducted to verify the relationship between the status of information grasped by care managers in digital care management practice and data obtained from IoT devices. Analysis of data from 38 older adults living alone at home who participated in the project revealed the following: The percentage of data contributing to the grasping of information on 21 items collected by the care managers, and the frequency of data contribution in the 21 items, in relation to the attributes of the subjects and the project results, showed that data contributed to the grasping of information in all 21 items, and that five items had a percentage of data contribution exceeding 90%. In addition, the contribution of data to the grasping of information led to a sense of skill improvement among the care managers (p=0.032) and showed a significant positive correlation with the time spent collaborating with multiple professions (r=0.515).

We report a case of an 88-year-old male resident of a care facility who was diagnosed with cataracts requiring surgery during a home visit. The surgery was performed at a specialized institution, and postoperative follow-up was conducted via telemedicine. By utilizing portable ophthalmic medical devices and telemedicine, ophthalmic care can be provided within care facilities, highlighting a new possibility for delivering ophthalmic care to elderly residents in such settings.

The use of ultrasound by home-visiting nurses is expected to enhance the quality of care by enabling visualization of patients’ anatomy. To ensure home-visiting nurses can use ultrasound effectively, several measures are required, including educational programs, on-site support, and comprehensive community initiatives. This report presents a case in which pocket ultrasound devices were introduced to home-visiting nurses at a local community hospital, allowing them to provide improved excretion care. Moreover, these activities have been extended to home-visit nursing stations in Toyota City.