| Budget Amount *help |
¥2,000,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,000,000)
Fiscal Year 1996: ¥800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000)
Fiscal Year 1995: ¥1,200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000)
|
|---|
| Research Abstract |
In this report, I focused on three areas of end-of-life care for the elderly : health care, medical care, and social welfare. It became clear from my research, titled above, that studies in Japan on each of these segment areas are conducted separately with no collaborative work. Research on health care is usually reported with statistical analyses on deaths. They deal with the relationships between situations of death and seasonal changes ; connections between causes of death and age ; and the type of care given. Many of the studies on medical care deal with how to treat end-stage patients. Particular significance is placed on two aspects : care and cure. Most of the social welfare research is centered on analyses of the situation of care using rating scales. They include situations of attending the deathbed at home, conditions of care for the dying given at institutions for the elderly, and stress on caregovers concerning end-of-life care. My research revealed that advanced studies in
… More
the area of medical care are made in depth, such as on how to treat dying patients. However the other two areas, healthcare and welfare, still remain on the fundamental level of basic research on end-of-life care and related matters. My research further revealed that in the care of the dying, medical-professionals, who cure patients, take the central role, and paramedical staff, who care for such patients, merely take a secondary role. The report confirmed that studies on end-of-life care performed in Japan are structured in a pyramid shape : care of the dying from medical perspectives comes at the top, and studies on other caregivers, who support patients' mental health, are situated beneath as a subordinate body. Linkage between healthcare, medical care, and welfare is demanded greatly in our society today. Such ties function well in terminal care for cancer patients, but those for the elderly are still in an unsatisfactory state. Studies on how to treat dying people are not developed enough and remain at the level of fundamental research. Less
|
