This paper clarifies that multifaceted laws and systems have been enacted in the past, taking into account the characteristics of the evaluation of the living environment in Japan, while taking a look at measures for housing and living environment. Furthermore, from my experience in participating in community activities, I focus on the problems of “people” involved in the improvement of the living environment as a factor that has not improved the evaluation of the living environment. And I consider the possibility of solving problems by using information technology that will progress in the future by describing the behavior of people who do not appear in statistical data and the state of the community in the improvement of the living environment.

In this study, we analyzed the physical stressor effect mainly from the point of view of autonomic nerve activity of subjects sitting in a wheelchair with poor posture. The subjects consisted of five each healthy men and women; different sitting postures (good posture and poor posture) in a wheelchair were measured using evaluation parameters such as the heart rate, the heart rate variability, the amylase activity value, the flicker value, NRS, the contact area of seating surface, and the seat pressure. By the different sitting postures, from the result of the contact area of seating surface, the maximal value of left-right seat pressure, and NRS, the effect of poor postures in wheelchairs was evident. Furthermore, the risk of bedsores and the mental burden of pain during the poor posture were quantitatively clarified. The impact on the autonomic nerve activity has the tendency for increasing sympathetic nerve activity during poor posture. However, no obvious difference was found from the other parameters.

Gait solution ankle-foot orthosis (GS AFO) could assist the heel rocker function; however, incomplete push off remains a major problem. The purpose of this preliminary study was to assess the effects of GS AFO, namely an advanced footplate, on push-off in individuals affected by stroke. Three gait tasks performed by the 3 subjects while walking using the newly produced GS AFO or the conventional GS AFO with and without the forepart of the footplate were recorded and examined. Compared with other GS AFOs, use of the newly developed GS AFO increased the plantarflexion resistance moment during the pre-swing phase in all subjects. Moreover, the highest gastrocnemius muscle activity during stance phase was observed by using the newly developed GS AFO. These findings demonstrate that the newly developed GS AFO may help to improve push-off movement.

The pronation and supination movements of the two hindfoot the two joints, namely the Chopard and risfran, affect the pronation and supination movement of the forefoot. In this study, we aimed to clarify forefoot pressure changes in hindfoot alignment changes. The method measures the calcaneal region angle of the hindfoot, using a foot pressure gauge. Measure of four places—the first metatarsal head, the fifth metatarsal head, the inside of the calcaneus, and the outside of the calcaneus—during walking barefoot, hindfoot pronation, and hindfoot supination were compared. As a result, all cases showed 5 degrees of hindfoot pronation, in the hindfoot pronation position, the pressure in the medial calcaneus and the 5th metatarsal head increased during the hindfoot pronation, the pressure on the lateral calcaneus and 1st metatarsal head increased in the hindfoot supination. The induction of the hindfoot relative to the hindfoot pronation may be reversed as the induction of the forefoot may be reversed.

The purpose of this study was to clarify the reduction effect of multiple shoulder orthoses on shoulder subluxation in stroke hemiplegic patients. The subjects were 29 of the first stroke patients in our hospital who had subluxation in the paralyzed shoulder joint. We measured the shoulder interstitial bone head distance (AHI) of non-paralyzed side shoulder joint, paralyzed side shoulder joint, and paralytic side shoulder joint with shoulder joint orthosis. AHI at the time of various paralyzed shoulder joint orthoses was significantly reduced compared to AHI when the paralyzed side shoulder joint orthosis was not attached, and significantly larger than AHI of the non-paralyzed side shoulder joint. There was no significant difference in AHI between various shoulder orthoses. Although it is effective to use shoulder orthosis in patients with stroke hemiplegia, an effect of restoration large enough to be equivalent to the normal shoulder joint cannot be not retained; it was therefore suggested that it is not sufficient to wear a shoulder orthosis. Since there was no difference in the types of shoulder orthosis, it was considered necessary to select an orthosis in consideration of daily life.