The purpose of this study was to describe how Cerebral Disease patients recognize their disabilities and what influences them. The data were analysed by using a grounded theory approach and were then compared with previous findings from stage theory. Eight individual patients were interviewed during their rehabilitation phase. The results are as follows:
1) The process of Cerebral Disease patients' recognition was not uniform in the same way as in the case of stage theory but was characterized by a three-type pattern of depression.
2) Each type of depression was found to improve after“Support imprinting experience”.
3) Many patients suffered physical injuries through trying to achieve too much in too short a time. This was a means, however, for recognizing the extent of their capabilities.

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The qualities of the social support and social network for pregnant women influence their mental and physical states during pregnancy and childcare period. We adopted Cronenwett's conceptual framework and the four kinds of the social support (emotional, material, information and comparison support) based on House's definition to examine the qualities of them.
As for support resources, pregnant women's family, friend and husband's family provided most of the social support for pregnant women. Among of them, husband, mother, sisters, and husband's mother were especially important members, providing satisfactory support for pregnant women.
The pregnant woman's and her husband's families were the main resources of emotional and material support. Friend was the that of information and comparison support.
The pregnant women most perceived emotional support with the largest supportive members. Material support was perceived the most clear and independent kind from other three ones of supports.

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The purpose of this descriptive study was to identify the components of decision-making among the dialysis patients.
Subjects were a Convenience sample of hemodialysis patients who agreed to participate this study. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews was recorded on the tape and transcribed. Decision-making episodes were picked and interpreted by researchers. Data was analyzed based on the Grounded Theory Approach.
Result: Subject were 21 patients from 4 hospitals. The mean age was 51.1 and the mean duration after the hempdialysis was 9.1 years. The number of episode of decision-making were 136.
Six components of decision-making were extracted suchas <goal><recognition of situation><recognition of self><choice><planning><evaluation>.
The subject were making decision by examining and judging the situation and oneself, and then setting the goal. They were selecting situation and themselves. After all, the outcoma of decision-making were evaluating.
Seven type of decision-making, erection type, realty-oriented type, elaborate type, dogmatic type, passive type, chance type, resistant type were extracted.
Discussion: The factors which were related to the quality of decision-making were discussed such as the ability to examine the reality and control own wishes and needs, and the commitment for the decision-making. The nursing approach to facilitate the patients to make the decision were mentioned.

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In Japan, very hot moist compresses applied to the lumber region have been used to promote intestinal movement and flatus or defecation. This skill was based on empirical knowledge.
One of the purposes of this study is to make clear the effect of very hot compresses on intestinal movement. The other purpose is to prove the safety of the skin where very hot compresses applied.
The sample consisted of 8 healthy female volunteers, ranging in age from 27 to 47 with a mean age of 37.4. A very hot compress was applied to the lumber region for 10 minutes.
The results were as follows:
1) Bowel sounds immediately after hot compresses increased 1.7times compared with bowel sounds before the hot compresses.
2) Skin temperature of the back increased to 41.1-43.1 degrees centigrade under the hot compresses, then decreased rapidly.
3) Blood flow to the back during hot compresses, increased to156%. Blood flow to the upper arm also increased.
4) Body temperature, pulse rate and blood pressure were not remarkably changed by the hot compresses.
The results of the experiments show that very hot compresses applied to the lumber region affect intestinal movement. And the results suggest that a very hot compress is a useful nursing skill to promote flatus or defecation.

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The purpose of this study was to describe characteristics of social support of chronically-ill children and to compare social support of chronically-ill children with those of healthy children. Subjects consisted of 204 chronically-ill children aged between 9 and 18 years old and 544 healthy children aged between 10 and 17 years old.
Results of this study were as follows:
1. In both chronically-ill children and healthy children, parents' support score and teachers' support score were significantly higher in elementary school children than high school students. In both groups, friends' support score was significantly higher in girls than boys.
2. Chronically-ill children reported significantly higher scores of parents' support, friends' support and teachers' support than those of healthy children.
3. Parents' support score was significantly lower in children with diabetes than those with asthma and cancer.
4. The total score of social support and teachers' support score were significantly lower in children with employed mothers than those with unemployed mothers.
5. The total social support score of children who participated in non-sports extracurricular activities was significantly higher than those of children who did not participate in non-sports activities.

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The purpose of this study is to examine the meaning and structure of cancer survivors' perception of their health. An ethnographic approach is used in an inductive analysis of survivors' behavior. Thirty cancer survivors were examined through interviews and participant observation (participant observation was conducted in their own homes, offices, outpatient departments, or at the meetings of survivors' self-help groups).
The cancer survivors' perceptions of their health, described in their own words, are categorized in 17“folk domains of concepts”. Among them, category A,“kekkyoku-wa-jibun-da (After all, there is nobody but me)”was selected as the tentative theme: the remaining domains were reorganized by their relationship with this theme domain.
Through this study, it was found that the theme domain plays an important role when a cancer survivor struggles for survival and arrives at a state in which extraordinary circumstances brought about by cancer do not bother him any longer. This finding indicates that sound recovery from cancer can be achieved through harmony between a cancer survivor's self and his daily life. This also suggests that help should be provided to cancer survivors to contribute to stable surroundings that enable them to establish a sound self concept.

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It is important to prevent the House-Bound home care elderly from getting worse to the Bed-bound. We studied the relation between“daily hours out of bed”and the activity of daily living (ADL) estimated by FIM (Functional Indepenedence Measure) in 50 house-bound home care elderly persons.
Result are as follows;
(1) The level of independence of“Toileting”, one of the FIM self-care items, was most highly correlated with the“daily hours out of bed”in the house-bound home care elderly.
(2) The level of independence of“Mobility to the Toilet”and“Bowel Control”were also highly correlated with the“daily hours out of bed”in the house-bound home care elderly.
(3) The level of independence of“Toileting”had high correlation with a total score of FIM moter items in the house-bound home care elderly (r=0.83, p<0.001)

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In order to investigate the effects of night wakening on sleep pattern of caregiver, a woman aged 45 years was studied using electroencephalogram (EEG). After two adaptation nights, her all-night EEG readings were recorded for six nights. During the first three consecutive nights, the subject slept by the side of a patient at a private ward of hospital and wakened by herself several times a night to provide care for the patient (care nights). Of the later three nights, her sleep EEGs were recorded at her home (free nights). The first free night was following three care nights and the other two free nights were after 2 weeks. The results were summarized as follows;
1) Sleep period time (SPT) of care nights differed in different nights. In contrast to the SPT range of 356-367 min during free nights, it was 271-391 min during the care nights.
2) The rhythm of sleep cycles of care nights was not stable, though the subject wakened by herself, not using an alarm clock.
3) Although there were few changes occurring in sleep efficiency (SE) and percent each stage for SPT (%SPT) between the first and second care night, SE of the third care night was more similar to SE of free nights than SE of the first two care nights, and so was %SPT of the third care night.
4) Sleep latency (SL) decreased during the four consecutive nights, i. e. the three care nights and the first free night, and SL of the third care night and the first free night were shorter than SL of the last two free nights. The accumulation of fatigue and stress of nighttime care was suggested.

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