This study is designed to empirically inquire the relationship between the homehelper’s perceptions of competence development and such elements as demographic variables, training experience, job manage ment （confirmation of support manuals and plans, and case review sessions）, and job-required expertise （accounted for by professional knowledge and skills, information about clients, and service evaluations）. After statistically analyzing the data consisting of 233 questionnaires acquired from homehelpers working in two cities in Osaka Prefecture, we found that the homehelper’s perceptions about competence development is signhicantly related with such elements as training experience, job management, and job-required expenise. ln other words, homehelpers who are relatively sensitive to the needs for competence development tend to be people who have more training experience and more frequently confimi support manuals and plans, and who are more skilled in every aspect of services provided.

These results imply the necessity of systematic training in order for homehelpers to reinforce their perception about competence development and quality of service.

To clarify factors related to ,job satisfaction of visiting nurses, a questionnaire research was conducted in 436 visiting nurses. 164 answers were valid. ① Subjects’ job satisfaction was 62.8 （±19.3） mm. ②Those who had support for housework were more satisfied more than those who did met. ③ In working situation, the lesser the degree of workng burden, the more they satisfied they felt. ④In working circumstances, the more they worked in workplaces that had a training system, the more highly satisfied they felt. From these results, reduction of wQrking burdens other than nursing jobs, making an environment that enables them to concentrate on nursing and arranging’ a suthcient training system were thought to improve job satisfaction of visiting nurses. These rsults suggest necessity to improve support systems for visiting nurses who are working full-time in a responsible position and are prone to hold jobs other than nursing.

In order to investigate caregiving environments that enable the continuation of home care, a caregiving environment survey was conducted on elderly individuals requiring nursing care and their family caregivers in a town located in a hilly and mountainous area of Tohoku district. The present study, which focused on the physical environment （residential environment） from the perspective of improving nursing care and preventing conditions requiring nursing care, revealed the following needs:

①Many subjects responded that they felt “cold” in the bathroom during the winter.

②Many subjects responded that their bathrooms had “no handrails”, and that handrails were not necessary in the bathroom.

③Many subjects responded that they had staircases in their houses and premises, and that these staircases were inconvenient to use.

④Approximately half of the subjects responded that there were no handrails along staircases, hallways, and steps in their homes

⑤Many subjects responded that the interior of their homes was separated from the outside by a step.

The purpose of this research was to explore the liaison techniques needed for care managers. The research method was qualitative study with a semi-structured interview. The subjects were 29 care managers with dfferent business experience and occupational category. The results showed that the following liaison techniques from 《generation of liaison》 to 《development of liaison》 were extracted; 【meeting a positive target and taldng opportunity of meeting】 ; 【sensitizing positively to the latest information】 ; 【understanding the connected partner and making an appropriate contact metliod】 ; 【making the most effective use of the environment】 ; 【consulting with various occupational professions】 ; 【requesting to appropriate professions】 ; 【information which is suitable to persons and occasions】 ; 【gathering information for predicting and solving of issues】 ; 【rnultidimensional comprehension of the structure of society】 ; 【solving the problem in collaboration】 . Further research is needed for the development of an educational program for these liaison techniques.

We conducted basic research on the activity level and mental state of mind in 63 elderly people living at home， of whom 37 required nursing care and 26 did not， in order to clarify correlations between activity level and their mental state， and identifY effective methods for promoting their health． lt was found that their activity level was significantly correlated with their mental state， except for “anger-hostility．” Particularly， the correlation with“vigor”was the strongest when estimated based on the correlation coefficient. Funhermore， a comparison of the caredependent elderly with the healthy elderly， with a marked difference in activity level observed between them， showed a better mental state in the healthy elderly. Spechically， a marked ditference was found for “vigor．” These findings indicate correlations between activirty level and the mental state in elderly living at home， and suggest that approaches enhancing “vigor” are needed for care-dependent elderly to lead a vigorous ure， and that once their “vigor” is enhanced， their activity level increases．

This paper aims to examine trends and issues in outcome research for home healthcare support for aged persons requiring care in Japan. 33 papers on outcome research released from 2000 to 2005 were classified by their evaluation standards: targets for support and subjects for evaluation, evaluation indicators, and measurement scales.

These outcome research papers took their evaluation indicators principally from changes occurring in elderly patients and their family-member carers. Within these, the widespread adoption of indicators such as IADL and AD L that involve physical function and improvement of health problems was characteristic.

This paper also addresses issues such as the need for indicators and scales that might prove effective for outcome evaluation of home healthcare support, as well as how to proceed with the funher validation of these. More research aiming to ensure quality of home healthcare support should be expected, including the development of new evaluation indicators and scales.

The ideal informational support necessary in the care of elderly people was investigated. Family care givers （n=2,325） for elderly people over 65 years of age with certntication of eligibility for long-term care participated in the study. The route of obtaining information on home care was examined. Next, factors of care giver of home care related to the feeling of sufficiency of information were cornpared between 4 groups as a factor of the degree of physical disability and severity of dementia of the elderly person. Results indicated that when the degree of physical disability and dementia was mild or moderate, factors related to care such as age of caregiver, presence of work, frequency of communication with friends and the degree of depression were related to the feeling of suthciency of information. When the degree of physical disability and dementia was severe, factors of caregiver related to the feeling of sufiiciency of inforrnation were dfferent. In conclusion, it is necessary to provide adequate information about care after considering variables related to both the elderly person and the caregiver.