Exploration and Analysis of Volunteers’ Participation in Hospice Care Service Mode from the Perspective of Multiple Mutual Aid / 中国医学伦理学

In an aging society, the coexistence of multiple diseases among the elderly is prominent, and the prevalence of malignant tumors continues to rise.It has positive practical significance that improving the quality of life of dying patients and developing hospice care. Based on welfare multivariate theory, volunteers joining the hospice care team is conducive to the diversified development of the hospice care. By carrying out voluntary services and giving dignity to the dying, the quality of death can be improved and social support can be reflected. Based on the theory of mutual aid, volunteer participation in hospice care services is conducive to promoting the improvement of social spiritual civilization and achieving a virtuous cycle of intergenerational mutual aid. The mode of volunteer participation in hospice care service is still being gradually explored. This paper aimed to propose that the government introduces relevant voluntary service policies to build a good social atmosphere; based on the knowledge, belief and practice model, carry out education and training for volunteers and promote the overall coordinated development of the service team; put forward suggestions on improving the volunteer service mechanism by reaching confidentiality agreements, and improving the willingness of the dying and their families to accept volunteer services, so as to provide reference for the sustainable development of hospice care.

Association between social mutual aid andpsychological stress (K6) of residents in rural district / Journal of Rural Medicine

Objective: This study aimed to clarify the association between social mutual aid and psychological stress among residents in a rural district.Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study based on Andersen’s Behavioral Model of Health Care Utilization was conducted on 2,500 residents of City A in Akita Prefecture who were aged 65 years or older. The study was conducted from April 8 to May 15, 2017. Participants were administered a questionnaire containing items on individual characteristics (predisposing, enabling, and need) and contextual characteristics (physical factors).Results: Responses were obtained from 1,236 participants, and data from 974 valid questionnaires were analyzed. Factors related to the high level of psychological stress were “maintenance of confidential relationships that could only be formed in the rural district (low)” and “social support (low)”, which are forms of social mutual aid. Use of health services had no association with psychological stress, whereas when psychological stress was high (5 points or higher), the rate of “not participating in community groups (no)” was also high.Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate the need for the objective evaluation of the roles of self-help and mutual help among elderly adults living in a rural district and the mutual help and public help functions represented by health services. It is also important to develop districts that promote the enhancement of social mutual aid so that such help can be fully utilized.

Do care activities by elderly people lead to an increased sense of purpose in life? / 日本プライマリ・ケア連合学会誌

<b>Introduction</b> : This study aimed to clarify the relationship between the presence of someone to care for and the subjective QOL (quality of life) of local elderly people.<br><b>Methods</b> : Data for 7,728 residents aged 65 and above was obtained from the everyday life sphere needs survey implemented by the government of Nanto City, Toyama Prefecture, between May to July, 2014. Multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the relationship between two sets of variables : first, the presence (or absence) of “something to live for”, “sense of fulfillment”, and “self-esteem” as indicators of the respondents'subjective QOL ; and second, a set of explanatory variables (common to all models) including the presence of someone to care for, indicators of the personal attributes, health, and life style of the respondents.<br><b>Results</b> : The presence of someone to care for was positively related to the presence of “something to live for,” “sense of fulfillment,” and “self-esteem,” which were indicators of subjective QOL, even after several indicators of personal attributes, health, and life style were accounted for.<br><b>Conclusion</b> : Promoting mutual help in local areas has a positive significance for those elderly who take care of others, as well as for those who accept care. The results also suggest the social importance of being the recipient of care in the elderly.

Analysis on results of blood test for first-time blood donation volunteers and mutual-aid blood donors in Anyang area / 国际检验医学杂志

Objective To analyze results of blood test for first‐time blood donation volunteers and mutual‐aid blood donors in Anyang area ,in order to improve cognition of characteristics of different blood donors and safety of blood transfusion .Methods A total of 31 363 cases of first‐time blood donation volunteers(first‐time blood donation group) and 1 046 cases of mutual‐aid blood donors(control group) from January to December 2013 in Anyang area were collected .The results of blood tests were compared and related factors affected qualities of blood were analysed .Results A total of 1 160 cases of donors in the first‐time blood donation group were failed to pass the blood test and the unqualified rate was 3 .70% ,in the control group 17 cases of donors failed to pass the blood test and the unqualified rate was 1 .62% ;the difference was statistically significant (P<0 .05) .The test results of unqual‐ified blood samples shown that in the first‐time blood donation group the constituent ratios of alanine aminotransferase(ALT) ,anti‐body to hepatitis C virus(anti‐HCV) ,antibody to human immunodeficiency virus(anti‐HIV) ,hepatitis B surface antigen(HBsAg) and syphilis positive blood donors were 37 .67% ,12 .59% ,8 .79% ,31 .38% and 9 .57% respectively ,and those in the control group were 29 .41% ,17 .65% ,5 .88% ,35 .30% and 11 .76% respectively .The constituent ratio of ALT positive blood donors between the two groups had statistically significant difference(P<0 .05) .There were statistically significant differences in gender ,age and occu‐pations between unqualified blood donors in the two groups(P<0 .05) .Conclusion The first‐time blood donation volunteers might have relatively higher unqualified rate in blood test ,it is necessary to enhance blood screening and management before transfusion , in order to ensure safety of blood transfusion .

Re-evaluation of the Medical Practice and the Medicine in the Later Half of the Chosun Dynasty / 의사학

The state-running medical institutions which had been instituted in the earlier period of the Chosun dynasty substantially downsized during the reconstructing process after the major wars with Japan and Qing dynasty. The downsizing was mainly due to the malfunctioning public financial system; but it was also due to the growth of the private medical market. The growth of the private medical market reoriented the focus of the public health system of the Chosun dynasty from providing treatment for every minor disease to providing the more efficient policy against epidemic. Hwal-in Seo (a temporary local public health center established for epidemic) became a new core of the dynasty's health policy under the phrase of "Ae Rye (saving the rituals)." As the changes of the dynasty's public health policy, the growing private medical market had been admitted into the public domain. Chosun government once had declared Sa Yak Gye (a private mutual-aid group for medicine) illegal and prohibited the private groups to be organized. Instead, with the policy change mentioned above, the government tried to support the private mutual-aid group for medicine while forbidding sales of fake medicine, restraining rise of price of medicine. Especially the Do go merchants often caused the sudden rise of price of medicine by bulk purchasing. Medical practice was reassessed as the period when it was considered as one of the lowest professions had been over. Although the Yangban class still refused to be a professional medical practitioner themselves, they also well understood the value of medicine as a field of study to save human and dismissed negative perception on medicine. Medicine as a field of study and medical practice, which had been underestimated under the ruling system influenced by the Song Confucianism and the status system of the Chosun dynasty, faced a new era. The whole society guaranteed more free practices of the medical practitioners and they were recognized for their works. With the change of social environment, the government officials gradually realized needs to discuss how they could educate and recruit medical practitioners to provide advanced medical treatment and what provisions they had to legislate to ensure the stable supply of the medicine. It is certain that the transformation developed in the medical environment and the changes of the public health policy up to 18th century Chosun dynasty accompanied the emergence of the commercial society. However, the overall social urge was still not enough to induce the actual law-making process. The change of the public health policy and the growth of the private medical market were surely the evidence of the transforming Chosun society; at the same time, they also revealed the immaturity of the medical environment which was not able to lead new health policies.