Ability of older male caregivers to seek help when caring for a wife or mother with dementia living at home / Journal of Rural Medicine

Objective: We aimed to clarify factors associated with the ability to seek help among older male caregivers who care for women with dementia in their families.Patients and Methods: This information will inform strategies to support their continued provision of long-term care. Participants were 364 male caregivers recruited from three places: The study period was 2017–2018. We obtained ethical approval for this study from the relevant ethics committee.Results: The ability to seek help for care problems among male caregivers was normally distributed. We found that more than 90% of older male caregivers did not actively seek help to resolve care problems, suggesting that older male caregivers had problems with long-term care. In the high score group, health status and the number of emotional support persons in the household were significantly and somewhat strongly positively correlated. The low score group showed a significant and rather weak positive correlation between economic status and health status, and the number of emotional supporters inside and outside the household.Positive correlations for the high score group were self-esteem and depressive symptoms, and self-esteem and resources. Positive correlations for the low score group were self-esteem and depressive symptoms, self-esteem and resources, and resources and depressive symptoms.Conclusion: Male caregivers are more likely to seek help if they are employed or play a role in their community. Nurses also need to support male caregivers with positive words and praise to help them use available support and resources and continue to provide long-term care. It is important for healthcare professionals to observe whether a caregiver presents with depressive symptoms or has long-term care problems because older male caregivers do not seek help. Collaboration between caregivers and medical, long-term care, and welfare professionals is necessary. Direct and timely intervention is needed.

Subjective Health and Its Associated Factors Among Community Residents Who Participated in a Meeting on Nursing Care and Health / 日本農村医学会雑誌

This study investigated subjective health and its associated factors among community residents who participated in a meeting on nursing care and health held at a local commercial facility. An anonymous self-administered questionnaire was distributed to a total of 441 participants. Of these, 403 responded to the questionnaire. Respondents comprised 326 healthy individuals (80.9%) and 77 unhealthy individuals (19.1%). Mean age was 66.3 ± 11.6 years. Factors significantly associated with subjective health were age, non-smoking, regular exercise, need for daily living assistance, emotional support, and psychological status. Analysis according to age (elderly group vs. non-elderly) showed that the subjective health of the non-elderly group was not significantly associated with any of the factors, while that of the elderly group was significantly associated with non-smoking, need for daily living assistance, emotional support, and psychological status. Continuation of independent daily living through efforts to maintain or improve physical function is needed to promote subjective health, especially for the elderly. It is also important to establish a support system to facilitate communication with the family and community in order to maintain good psychological health even when these individuals become physically dependent.