The purpose of this study was to examine the influences of family support on the self-care behaviors of older patients that are on dietary restrictions due to hemodialysis treatment. Differences in perceptions between older patients and their family members were the focus of the study. Data were gathered from 16 dialysis clinics across the country. Pairs consisting of outpatients and their family members （N ＝ 283） were surveyed. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The causal model indicated that “family support perceived by older patients” had a direct influence on their self-care behaviors. “Family support perceived by family members” had no direct influence on older patients’ self-care behaviors. However, it had indirect influence on self-care behaviors through their perceptions. It is suggested that in order to promote self-care behaviors of older patients, the medical professionals must intervene to increase awareness of older patients regarding the significant contribution of family support for their self-care behaviors.

The purpose of this study was to clarify physical and mental stressors of caregivers with high levels of stress-related substances in the urine of elderly women home caregivers The subjects were taken from among 60 elderly women home caregivers for a person with a care need level of ≥3, or a person with dementia with a care need level of ＜ 3. The noradrenaline/creatinine ratio in spot urine was used to test stress. Groups with values were below and above the median (0.199 μg/mg) (low and high groups) were compared. The investigated variables were age and other caregiver attributes, summary of care recipient, and objective health status.

The mean age and standard deviation was 72.0±5.7 years. Age, eGFR, and presence/absence of care stress were selected from the results of logistic regression analysis including eGFR. After adjustment, these odds ratios were in the order 1.2 (95%CI 1.1-1.4), 1.1 (0.996-1.1), 4.7 (1.3-16.9).

The results of this study show that older age and care stress are stressors of elderly women caregivers with high levels of stress-related hormones in their urine. Caregivers are thought to need support.

This study aimed to clarify nurses’ self-evaluation of home health care and associated factors among home-visit nurses in Hokkaido. The “Self-evaluation of Home Health Care Nursing” tool was used, and correlations between self-evaluation scores, and the following factors were analyzed : education, workplace environment, the recognition of collaboration with health care services, and the demands of training. The questionnaires were mailed to home visit nurses, and 358 valid participants were analyzed.

Nurses with higher self-evaluation ratings were found to have the following characteristics: without gaps in their career, having over 5 -years of experience as home visit -nurses, having the care manager license, feeling that the work was worthwhile, recognizing the importance of collaboration with primary care physicians, using learning and business support, and recognizing the opportunity for shared learning and contacts with neighboring home-visit nursing stations. It is important for home-visit nurses to have higher levels of self-evaluation of home health care. This can be achieved through nursing experiences, gaining family support skill and family understanding, attaining the care manager license, and promoting collaborative care with other nursing stations and the attending physician.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the presence or absence of knee pain and movement patterns on getting up from the floor in community-dwelling elderly women. We categorized the movement patterns to get up from the floor, and compared muscles of the trunk and upper/lower extremities, flexibility, and dynamic and static balance abilities between groups with and without knee pain. The results showed that many subjects with knee pain got up from the floor from a hand and foot crawling position. On a comparison of physical functional performance, a weaker quadriceps strength, shorter one-leg standing time, and slower walking speed on the timed-up-and-go (TUG) test were noted in elderly women with knee pain compared to those without such pain. The findings revealed that the elderly with knee pain get up from the floor from a crawling position to compensate for a decline in lower-limb muscle strength caused by knee pain.

The purpose of this study was to elucidate the factors related to self-perceived burden (SPB) in cancer patients requiring physical care provided by family caregivers. We distributed a questionnaire consisting of the self-perceived burden scale to 310 cancer outpatients, of whom 210 returned complete responses. We used multiple regression analysis to evaluate the responses of the 74 patients with a performance status of 2 or above. Three factors were found to be significantly related to SPB and explained the variance of 28.0%: “years of suffering” (β=- 0.326, p =0.006), “acceptance of the disease by the family member(s)” (β= 0.303, p =0.010), and “desire to fight the disease” (β= - 0.285, p =0.015). These findings suggest the importance of evaluating SPB along with patients’ physical and mental states and considering support of both the caregivers and the patients receiving the care.

This study aimed to characterize the competence of primary family caregivers who look after terminalstage cancer patients living at home. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 9 primary family caregivers who lived at home with terminal-stage cancer patients. Qualitative analysis of the results extracted 9 categories of caregiver competence: to make choices to improve the patient’s quality of life; to make choices to live life without regrets; to make adjustments for family life and caregiving; to be aware of individuals who are prepared to give support; to find access to available social support; to respect the patient’s own pace; to enjoy normal family time and use it as motivation for caregiving; to maintain one’s own peace of mind; and to objectively view caregiving-associated difficulties. Taken together, the results indicate that the competence of family caregivers to provide care for cancer patients comprises their competence to make choices and adjustments for a lifestyle that is desired by both the patient and other family members, their competence to find and utilize available support, their competence to motivatethemselves through their normal family life, and their competence to objectively view their own situation.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this research is to develop a leaflet on disaster countermeasures at visiting nursing stations in Niigata Prefecture.

METHOD: Self-report questionnaires about disaster countermeasures at visiting nursing stations were composed and mailed to administrators of visiting nursing stations of Niigata prefecture. We qualitatively analyzed “Effective disaster countermeasures” or “Disaster countermeasures recommended to other institutions” in reference to the KJ method, and developed a leaflet on disaster countermeasures based on the primary survey. Self-report questionnaires about the leaflet were mailed to the administrators and referred its evaluation. We modified the leaflet based on this evaluation. (secondary survey)．

RESULTS and DISCUSSION: Concerning the primary survey, 60 administrators (62.5%) responded. “Maintenance of personal information” “simulation of refuge” etc. were included in the leaflet proposal. For the secondar y survey, 46 administrators (47.9%) responded. Because over 80% accepted the leaflet proposal, we changed only the form. It was clerified that reexamination of further meterial and flexibility of the contents of the leaflet were required.