[Follow-up study on elderly patients living at home].

PURPOSE: To elucidate the characteristics of elderly patients registered in the home medical care system. METHOD: A 2-year follow-up study was conducted for 23 elderly patients who were under home medical care for a minimum of 1 year. RESULT: Eleven of the subjects were men, the mean age of the patients was 83.3 +/- 7.6 years, and 65% of subjects were under home medical care for 3 years at a stretch. The median score for the Barthel Index (BI) of activities of daily living was 40, the median score for the 10 cm visual analogue scale (VAS) was 5.7 cm, 91% of the patients needed a caregiver, the mean age of the primary caregiver was 60.3 +/- 12.0 years, and the mean score on the Burden Index of Caregivers (BIC-11) scale was 14.7. CONCLUSION: A follow-up study showed that 65% of patients were under continuous home medical care for 3 years, and the degree of the burden on family and the primary caregiver was moderate.

[A case-control study of factors associated with intermittent home care among elderly inpatients in home care wards].

We present a case-control study that was conducted to examine the factors associated with intermittent home care on elderly inpatients in home care wards. The results showed that the proportion of intermittent home care was approximately 20%, and the risks for intermittent home care were strongly associated with a lack of intention for continued home care for the elderly, lack of experience of home care, refusal of the family caregiver, and protracted length of stay.

[Role of home medical care support system in aged cancer patients' symptom relief and regional alliances].

The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of home medical care support system to relieve the symptom and regional alliances for elderly cancer patients. We investigated clinical parameters to study the features of this system. The home medical care support system is designed for patients who are B75-year-old with decrease in activities of daily living and severe dementia. The support system plays a significant role in patients with impaired oral ingestion, dyspnea, delirium, and a poor general status.

[Medical care support intervention to the patient and family who has chosen a terminal care at home - an influence of satisfactory experience on the culture of terminal care].

The National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology in Japan implemented a home medical care support system for aged patients in April 2009. In this study, we report a case of terminal care system where a medical care intervention was carried out by a close coordination of visiting nurses and other staffs with a "at-home terminal care" brochure on hand, and we discussed how this system was brought forward satisfactory and how it affected this culture.