In the realm of primary care, the home care is one of the practical assignments which are given to us. I would like to report on how important the psychosomatic approach is in home care on the basis of my clinical experiences with 475 patients who were seen during the 19 months, consisting of December, 1977,July through December of 1978 and the entire year of 1979. In these 475 patients, the average of 25 were seen per month ; the average of 22.6 patients (88%) were over the age of 65. Concerning the number of home visits, the same groupe required 70 visits (87%) per month on the average. The main diseases included apoplexy (34.2%), lumbago and neuralgia (11.1%), heart trouble (8.8%), and cancer (8.4%). To these patients who are stayig at home, mechanically oriented modern treatment practiced in hospitals is not applicable They need medical care which is humane and more patient-orientated, of which the psychosomatic approach should constiture the very base. As Dr.A.J. Krakowski, President of the International Psychosomatic Medical Association stated that, if psychosomatic medicine is meant to be the all round medicine for human care, it should be a biopsuchosocial one. Here, the word 'social' means a life of the patients as a normal human being. He lives a life just like others. The patient's home therefore, is the only place where real, humane care can be given. Thus, development of the care system and study of care techniques are most definitely required. The comprehensive care system for each local district will be conducted by the family doctor in change of primary care, becase he knows each patient and his family vary well as members of the community, and has comprehensive knowledge about each patient's disease from a biological point of view. For development of such service under the leadership of family doctors, public nurses, visiting nurses, physical therapists, clinical psychologists, social workers, home helpers, and even residents of the community should take part. They will learn most in attending medical service in this manner. What should be emphasized here is that appropriate mental and physical care should be given to the patient's family, who are enganed in the care of the patient and tend to exhaust themselves as the illiness prolongs. While promotiong this system as such, it is essential for the family doctor to realize the great value of the psychosomatic approach as it is related to the care techniques as well as to the study of care techniques. Care includes both varbal and non-varbal communication. Under clinically critical situations, such as the terminal stage of cancer, empathetic and emotional, non-verbal communication appeals most to the patient as a human being.
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