A study on the health care support and living conditions of the elderly in marginal rural community

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24660067
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Community health/Gerontological nurisng
• Research Institution: Kansai University of Health Sciences
• Principal Investigator: IWAI KEIKO 関西医療大学, 保健看護学部, 教授 (60342234)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): KIHIRA Tameko 関西医療大学, 保健医療学部臨床検査学科, 教授 (30225015) ; II Mizuho 関西医療大学, 保健看護学部保健看護学科, 助手 (20583925) ; YOSHIMURA Makiko 関西医療大学, 保健看護学部保健看護学科, 助手 (40717063) ; OHASHI Junko 大阪府立大学, 保健看護学部, 研究員 (90618167)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 限界集落 / 後期高齢者 / 生活満足度 / エスノグラフィー / 医療保険的支援

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The present study, using ethnography and including an analysis of functions in daily life, aimed to examine the health and QOL of the elderly living in a community to identify factors influencing nursing care prevention. The community was inhabited solely by elderly people aged 75 years or older, and it was significantly difficult to revitalize it.
It was a marginal rural community consisting of approximately ten elderly people. The residents had: been living there for a long period of time, become attached to the community, maintained their motor function to continue to live independently, helped each other, and were satisfied with their lives due to support provided by their families living in other areas. However, the support provided for them was inadequate, including that required to improve the residents’ knowledge. It is necessary to develop secure networks to help all residents continue to lead an independent life in a safe manner.

Free Research Field

老年看護学