Awareness of the new long-term care insurance system and social services for elderly care in non-medical junior college students.

The present study was conducted in order to investigate the awareness of the new long-term care insurance and social services for the elderly care among young people. Non-medical junior college students answered a self-administered questionnaire about the new long-term insurance and other related matters. The present study revealed that only a small percentage of students knew about "the new public long-term care insurance system" (13% for males and 11% for females), "care-manager" (11% and 8%), or "care-plan" (9% and 5%) in 1999, just one year before this insurance system took effect. In contrast, more than one third of the students knew about "home-help service" (41% and 47%), "long-term care institution for the elderly" (33% and 35%), and "elderly care nursing home" (33% and 36%). However, these rates were much lower than the rates among nursing students in 1998. An educational program for non-medical students should be recommended to help them to understand our rapidly aging society and to take an interest in public policies and social services for the elderly in Japan.

Depression among caregivers of elderly patients on chronic hemodialysis.

The present study was conducted to investigate depression in caregivers of elderly hemodialysis patients. Caregivers answered a self-administered questionnaire about various factors that may affect their depression, and also completed a Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale evaluation (CESD). The frail elderly who received regular nurse visits were used as controls. Compared with the caregivers of controls, those of hemodialysis patients spent less time on caregiving and had more time to go out unaccompanied by their patients. Males were numerous among hemodialysis patients than in the controls. Compared with the controls, hemodialysis patients were less likely to be older old (80 years old and more), diagnosed as demented or severely limited in activities of daily living (ADL). On the other hand, we did not find any significant difference between the two groups with regard to either the prevalence of depression, the rate of those who experienced any life event such as to cause depression within 6 months (e.g., death of family member), duration of caregiving or time looking after patients. Caregivers of hemodialyis patients may feel a heavy burden because they are obliged to play an important role in supporting patients on dialysis. They seem to need more social support regardless of whether or not their patients suffer from dementia.

Depression among caregivers of the frail elderly in urban Japan.

A cross-sectional study was conducted in order to investigate the various factors related to the depression in caregivers of the elderly in need of care in urban Japan. The caregivers answered a self-administered questionnaire about various factors that may affect their depression, and also completed a Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale evaluation (CES-D). Compared with non-depressed caregivers, depressed caregivers attended the elderly longer, while time spent for physical caregiving did not differ between the two groups. Even after controlling confounding factors, time of attending the elderly was an independent factor related to caregiver's depression.

[Preventive measures against hepatitis B virus infection in nursing schools in Japan].

To clarify the use of preventive measures against Hepatitis B Virus infection among nursing students, questionnaires were mailed to 488 nursing schools throughout Japan (including colleges and junior colleges). Two hundred and sixty-eight nursing schools answered our questionnaire. The results are summarized as follows: 1. Eighty percent of the nursing schools that responded, regularly perform the HBs antigen test, and 70% conduct the HBs antibody test. However, only 29% carry out HB vaccinations. 2. Of the 172 schools (71%) that do not actually perform HB vaccinations, only 4% have a HB vaccination plan for the future. 3. The main reasons why the schools do not carry out HB vaccinations are: 1) high cost (48%), 2) low risk of HBV infection among students (34%), 3) the students are thought to be themselves capable of preventing HBV infection (31%). 4. Eighty percent of the nursing schools conduct an orientation program for their nursing students on how to prevent infection before their practical training at school as well as during their practical training at the hospital. 5. Thirty-five percent of the nursing schools have their own "Prevention of HBV Infection Manual", while some of the others use a manual provided by their training hospital. 6. In answer to the question "Do the instructors ask the students to report any potential risk of infection they encounter during their training in the hospital?", 88 approximately 89% of the schools said that they instruct their students to report all injuries involving a needle stick. Other questions relative to various circumstances were also asked. To the question of whether the school requires the students to report any wounds to their fingers or hands, the rate of "yes" answers was only 33%, although this information is essential to prevent avoidable risk. Conclusion In our investigation we found that the HBs antigen and the HBs antibody tests are both performed in a high proportion in nursing schools. Orientation concerning students' training at the hospital to prevent infection is also provided at a high rate. On the other hand, HB vaccinations are not widely performed. Manuals on the prevention of HBV infection are not used at a high proportion either. Also, the reporting system for students encountering any potential risks of infection is insufficient. We think that a more active prevention system for HBV infection should be organized in every nursing school.