Journal of Japan Academy of Home Care
Online ISSN : 2758-9404
Print ISSN : 1346-9649
Volume 21, Issue 1
Displaying 1-13 of 13 articles from this issue
Contents
Foreword
Professionals Create Future-Oriented Home Health Care
Study Articles
  • Kazuko Horiguchi, Noboru Iwata, Sumiko Kobayashi, Yukie Suzuki
    Article type: Study Articles
    2017 Volume 21 Issue 1 Pages 36-43
    Published: 2017
    Released on J-STAGE: December 06, 2024
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

    This study aimed to elucidate factors that affect the end-of-life of older adults who live alone at home. We conducted a survey by self-administered questionnaire to home-visiting nurses who are caring for older adults living at home who wish to stay home until the end of their life. The participants were divided into two groups on the basis of the condition of the older adults they cared for: a completed group comprising older adults who passed away at home (n = 78; response rate, 59%) and a noncompleted group comprising older adults who moved to a facility at some point (n = 77; response rate, 55%). We performed inter-group comparisons regarding the reasons why the older adults who lived alone hoped to continue living at home until they died; the mutual understanding and acceptance of end-of-life of the adults and their families; the decision, mental preparation of both parties; and supports provided by separately residing family members. The results showed that of the older adults who live alone at home and refused to be hospitalized, their family accepted the elderly’s will of ending their life at home, and also hoped the elder would be able to stay at home until the end of their life. The older adults’ strong will, and their family’s respect for their intention and acceptance significantly affected the end-of-life of the elderly living at home.

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  • Yuzu Taki, Kazuko Horiguchi, Noboru Iwata
    Article type: Study Articles
    2017 Volume 21 Issue 1 Pages 44-51
    Published: 2017
    Released on J-STAGE: December 06, 2024
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

    To clarify the factors associated with “work−caregiving life balance,” a self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted for 365 primary family caregivers caring for the elderly. The caregivers were divided into two groups according to whether he/she had continued to work outside or not: i.e., work continuation group and turnover group. The questionnaire asked about the conditions of care recipients and primary caregivers, family situations, caregivers’ cognitive appraisal, coping strategies toward family caregiving, working conditions, community support systems, etc. The bivariate analyses comparing the two groups revealed that those who were categorized as the turnover group required higher levels of care and had poorer interpersonal communications. In the multivariate analysis, more often caring for changing the clothes, bathing and medical treatment, and the number of working days per week were significantly associated with the turnover group. In contrast, fewer of those caring for walking and being in an executive position of his/her company were associated with the continuation group. It was suggested that “work - caregiving life balance” might be achievable by reduced caregiving load, and flexibility of working conditions.

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  • Xueli Li, Kazuko Saeki, Michiko Aoyanagi
    Article type: Study Articles
    2017 Volume 21 Issue 1 Pages 52-60
    Published: 2017
    Released on J-STAGE: December 06, 2024
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

    This study aimed to examine nursing care leaders’ stress and stress related factors.

    A survey was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire sent to 661 nursing care leaders of 245 special nursing homes for the elderly and small-scale and multifunctional type in-home care facilities that were randomly selected in the seven largest cities in Japan. The questionnaire comprised items on the characteristics of the participants, those of the workplace, the workplace interpersonal relationships and the degree of job stress.

    The effective response rate was 21.3% (N=141). The average of nursing care leaders’ job stress score was 19.8±6.1. This was higher than other occupations. The factors contributing to nursing care leaders’ job stress were facility type, employment type, proportion of individuals with dementia, proportion of individuals requiring level-4 nursing care or higher, and proportion of new employees. Personal factors and interpersonal relationships were not shown to be significantly related to stress.

    To reduce the stress of nursing care leaders, it is necessary to improve the policy on working conditions and environment for elderly nursing care institutes.

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  • Yoichi Ohno
    Article type: Study Articles
    2017 Volume 21 Issue 1 Pages 61-66
    Published: 2017
    Released on J-STAGE: December 06, 2024
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

    There are many reports of musical intervention as a treatment for PD patients. In past reports on the efficacy of music listening, the focus was on the effects of a state of concentration upon the music through listening or singing with headphones. When living at home, it is often difficult to spend long periods of time listening to music due to the many hours spent on daily responsibilities. That being said, our research has examined the effectiveness of music listening without paying attention to the music. The test subjects of this research were seven PD patients who spend their lives at home. The points of evaluation included SDS, PDQ-39, the finger tap test, and the subjects’ daily activities. Our results consisted of a recognizable, significant improvement in the activity of the SDS and PDQ-39, and in finger tap test speeds. We also recognized a tendency towards improvement in daily activities as well. Our research has indicated the effectiveness of music listening without focusing on the music. We believe that, like having background music to accompany one’s dailyactivities, this may become a legitimate medical treatment that is very easy to incorporate into one’s life.

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  • Mami Kubota, Kazuko Horiguchi
    Article type: Study Articles
    2017 Volume 21 Issue 1 Pages 67-75
    Published: 2017
    Released on J-STAGE: December 06, 2024
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

    This study aimed to clarify the process in which elderly people with dementia begin to face the limitations of leading an independent life. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 9 care managers, and their statements were qualitatively and descriptively analyzed. Findings obtained through analysis are summarized as follows.

    Despite their [wish to maintain an independent life], elderly people with dementia begin to face [problems in their daily life activities due to cardinal symptoms], leading to [difficulty in appropriately managing their own physical conditions]. In such a situation, it is also [difficult for them to appropriately use care services], but [effective multi-professional approaches and cooperation] help them improve [their daily life activities]. However, when [their safety begins to be threatened], as <they frequently lose their way, and cannot return home independently>, and <there is an increased risk of fires, but it is difficult to adopt preventive measures>, while [neighbors show evasive attitudes toward their disease-specific, incomprehensible behavior], they are forced to give up their independent lives, not based on their own intentions, but due to the [fatigue and resignation of their families and service providers]. Based on these results, it may be necessary to support elderly people with dementia, in order to ensure their safety in consideration of their neighborhood relationships.

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  • Naoko Ota, Terumi Kogawa, Yoshiko Sasamori
    Article type: Study Articles
    2017 Volume 21 Issue 1 Pages 76-84
    Published: 2017
    Released on J-STAGE: December 06, 2024
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

    The purpose of this research is to identify factors that motivate elderly people and resignation public health nurses to continue engaging in community activities together. We conducted a qualitative inductive research using semi-structured interviews with 14 elderly people who were participating residents and 6 resignation public health nurses. The findings pertaining to both groups were extracted into 9 categories. Participating residents’ categories included “individual factors,” “environmental factors,” and “regulatory factors,” and the resignation public health nurses’ categories included “categories of resignation public health nurse’s activities,” and “relationships and roles as resignation public health nurse.” Since the categories overlapping the participating residents and the public health nurses were extracted, the relationship between the two was considered to be an equal partnership. Also, in collaborative activities, we have raised personal empowerment, created a process of interaction, created conditions and environments that can demonstrate the power of the community, leading to community-based community building. It was thought that community empowerment was established there, and it was the driving force for continued activity.

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