This study was conducted to shed light on the actual conditions of home care and quality-of-life factors related to the burdens on families. For this purpose, a survey was carried out on main caretakers in the families who were using our home care support service. Fundamental information about the main caretakers and those who need care were garnered. In addition, WHO/QOL-26 and burdens for main caretakers were checked up on.The survey found that those who have looked after the sick or invalid for less than six months and those over five years keenly felt that they were shouldering a heavy burden. With the progression of dementia, the caretakers increasingly felt the burden getting heavier. Physical factors in QOL were linked to the burden which caretakers feel has to be borne, but psychological and social factors were not. This finding might have been ascribed to the fact that the persons surveyed were residents of the provincial city, part of which is rural. They were mostly old women and must have gained the support of their relatives. It is easy to assume that their role perception and sense of responsibility together with regional characteristics were reflected in psychological and social QOL factors.
Home care aspects ; SOCIAL ; Related ; Home care of patient ; Family Members

Regular visits by an NICU nurse to the high-risk pregnant woman (at ahigh risk of complications) are very effective in allaying the anxiety of her family and supporting the family after childbirth as well. To provide the home-visit services that measure up to the needs of such pregnant women and their families, we analyzed the contents of the services and discuss the present state of affairs and problems yet to be solved.Using the applications presented by 62 families for the home-visit services and their reports, a survey was conducted to find out the family backgrounds, the recipients of the services other than pregnant mothers, and their expectations from the home-visit program.Of the families of those pregnant women who were admitted later into the Neonate Intensive Care Unit, 19.1% had been visited by NICU nurses while the expectant mothers were in the maternity ward. Of those expectant mothers, 81% were in the 35 weeks or less of gestation. The anxiety of the women who are very likely to be put in the NICU and their family members is great. Pregnant women and their family members who both recieved the home-visit services accounted for 71% of the 62 families. It was found that they were most anxious to know about the growth and developmental disorders of the unborn babies, prognosis, hospital charges and the process of giving birth. From this, we deemed it highly important for visiting nurses to put themselves in their shoes and share in their feeling toward the neonates. This will surely help them strength the ties that bind the family members together. The nurses are required to have leadership qualities with adequate knowledge of NICU and perinatology.
seconds ; Women, Pregnant ; Family Members ; Human Females ; Nurses