[Basic research in supporting the family who provides home care for their elderly people who need medical treatment at home--focusing on "uncomfortableness as judged by the utilization of the external human resource"].

The purpose of this study was to examine the use of external resource by the family caring for the elderly people who need medical treatment at home, and to discuss the methods of family support. An interview and the participatory observation were conducted to each of the 16 families, and the data were analyzed based on the Grounded Theory Approach. "Uncomfortableness as judged by the utilization of external resources" was found as a crucial factor to control the utilization of external human resources. The 3 factors that influenced the degree of uncomfortableness were also clarified. Those findings suggest that it is important to reduce the uncomfortableness stemming from the utilization of external support.