The role of health support workers in the ageing crisis

2020 ◽  
pp. 205-224
Author(s):  
Miwako Hosoda
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Family Members ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Care Staff ◽  
Health Care Staff ◽  
The Disabled ◽  
Professional Health ◽  
Long Term Care Insurance ◽  
Health Support

Preparing for an adequate support and care system and for health support workers to meet the needs of the elderly in an ageing world is an urgent issue. Japan has a population with the longest life expectancy. Previously family members took care of the elderly and the disabled. However, today care is more often provided by non-family members. As a result, the long-term care insurance system was implemented. Under the system, certain services are provided by qualified professional health care staff as defined in classic neo-Weberian terms. However, to realise an appropriate quality of life for the elderly and disabled, more services are often required. This results in additional services being performed by non-professional health support workers and home helpers, which raises concerns about low-waged female labour and the practice of health and medical care by unqualified persons. However, such personalised care helps bring about a higher quality of life for the elderly and disabled, especially since educational programmes are now being provided. In this chapter, the roles of qualified and non-qualified health support workers are examined and relevant issues and their solutions are explored in a Japanese and wider global context.

scholarly journals Review of evolution of the public long-term care insurance (LTCI) system in different countries: influence and challenge

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Linhong Chen ◽  
Lu Zhang ◽  
Xiaocang Xu
Keyword(s):  
Long Term Care ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Term Care ◽  
The Public ◽  
Disabled Elderly ◽  
The Disabled ◽  
Long Term Care Insurance ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Background The growing demand for LTC (Long-term care) services for disabled elderly has become a daunting task for countries worldwide, especially China, where population aging is particularly severe. According to CSY (China Statistical Yearbook,2019), the elderly aged 65 or above has reached 167 million in 2018, and the number of disabled elderly is as high as 54%. Germany and other countries have alleviated the crisis by promoting the public LTCI (Long-Term Care Insurance) system since the 1990s, while China’s public LTCI system formal pilot only started in 2016. Therefore, the development of the public LTCI system has gradually become a hot topic for scholars in various countries, including China. Methods This review has been systematically sorted the existing related literature to discuss the development of public LTCI (Long-Term Care Insurance)system form four aspects, namely, the comparison of public LTCI systems in different countries, the influence of public LTCI, challenge of public LTCI, and the relationship between public LTCI and private LTCI. We searched some databases including Web of Science Core Collection, Medline, SCOPUS, EBSCO, EMBASE, ProQuest and PubMed from January 2008 to September 2020. The quality of 38 quantitative and 21 qualitative articles was evaluated using the CASP(Critical Appraisal Skills Programme) critical evaluation checklist. Results The review systematically examines the development of public LTCI system from four aspects, namely, the comparison of public LTCI systems in different countries, the influence of public LTCI, the challenge of public LTCI, and the relationship between public LTCI and private LTCI. For example, LTCI has a positive effect on the health and life quality of the disabled elderly. However, the role of LTCI in alleviating the financial burden on families with the disabled elderly may be limited. Conclusion Some policy implications on the future development of China’s LTCI system can be obtained. For example, the government should fully consider the constraints such as price rise, the elderly disability rate, and the substantial economic burden. It also can strengthen the effective combination of public LTCI and private LTCI. It does not only help to expand the space for its theoretical research but also to learn the experiences in the practice of the LTCI system in various countries around the world. It will significantly help the smooth development and further promote the in-depth reform of the LTCI system in China.

QOL in primary care of elderly mentally ill and their caregivers’ well-being

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S2) ◽  
pp. 859-859
Author(s):  
N. Tataru ◽  
A. Dicker
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Primary Care ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Care Staff ◽  
Care Of Elderly

It is difficult to talk about quality of life of elderly with mental disorders. Thus, there appeared serious ethical challenges for psychiatry: to cut mental health costs and to provide care to as many as possible through all duration of their diseases, from the onset to the end-of-life. The psychiatrists have to face these challenges and treat the elderly with or without mental disorders from primary care to residential one, assuring them the best quality of life as it is possible. The goal of medical policy is to optimize the patients’ and their caregivers’ well-being. Multiple loses in old age are important in decreasing of quality of life and increasing of mental health problems in the elderly. They have more social and medical problems, which include depression and suicide. Caring for a family member with dementia can be both challenging and stressful. Primary care-staff need to develop the skills to detect and manage signs of caregivers stress. Health care professionals can promote well-being of the caregivers not only the patients’ well-being, educate them how to access help and manage their stress effectively. Recognition of the importance of the role of caregivers and finding the effective ways of supporting them, respecting their personal perception of the quality of this offer, improve the quality of primary care of elderly patients with mental disorders and also improve the quality of life of their relative or caregivers.

Validation Study for the Brief Measure of Quality of Life and Quality of Care: A Questionnaire for the National Random Sampling Hospital Survey

2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 622-631 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megumi Shimizu ◽  
Daisuke Fujisawa ◽  
Miho Kurihara ◽  
Kazuki Sato ◽  
Tatsuya Morita ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Quality Of Care ◽  
Large Population ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Physical Symptoms ◽  
Care Staff ◽  
Health Care Staff ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
Patients With Cancer

Background: To monitor quality of life (QOL) for patients with cancer in a large population-based survey, we developed a short QOL and quality-of-care (QOC) questionnaire. To determine the validity and reliability of this new questionnaire for evaluating QOL in patients with cancer. Methods: Outpatients and inpatients at National Cancer Center Hospital East were administered a questionnaire, including the following items—the short QOL and QOC questionnaire (physical distress, pain, emotional distress, walk burden, and need for help with self-care; perceived general health status; and satisfaction with medical care and treatment by doctor, communication with doctor, support by health-care staff other than doctor, care for physical symptoms such as pain, and psychological care), the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy—General (FACT-G), the Cancer Care Evaluation Scale (CCES) for patients, and demographic and medical data. We then readministered the short QOL and QOC questionnaire. Results: In total, 329 outpatients and 239 inpatients completed the survey (response rates: 80% and 90%, respectively). Total Cronbach α for the short QOL and QOC questionnaire was 0.83 for outpatients and 0.82 for inpatients. Items of the questionnaire correlated with cancer-specific measurements, FACT-G, and CCES. Intraclass correlation coefficients for all items of the questionnaire were 0.79 and 0.89 in each setting. Items of QOL and QOC did not correlate with each other. Conclusion: The validity and reliability of the short QOL and QOC questionnaire appear sufficient. This questionnaire enables continuous monitoring of patient QOL in large population-based surveys.

scholarly journals Mental health is the most important factor influencing quality of life in elderly left behind when families migrate out of rural China

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 364-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian-fei Xie ◽  
Si-qing Ding ◽  
Zhu-qing Zhong ◽  
Qi-feng Yi ◽  
Sai-nan Zeng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Psychological Intervention ◽  
Rural China ◽  
Family Members ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Cluster Sampling ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Left Behind

OBJECTIVES: to investigate the quality of life and the associated factors on left behind elderly in rural China.METHOD: the research was conducted cluster sampling to select 456 elderly left behind when family members migrated out of rural China to participate in a cross-sectional study by completing a general data questionnaire and Quality of Life questionnaire.RESULTS: 91.5% of the elderly requested psychological counseling and education. For the elderly, scores for mental health (39.56±13.73) were significantly lower compared with Chinese standard data (61.6±13.7) (P<0.001). Age, chronic disease type, gender, residence pattern and economic support from children were the main psychological factors influencing this population.CONCLUSION: mental health is the most important factor influencing quality of life of elderly left behind when family members migrated out of rural China. Our study suggested a need to widely establish a general practitioner team for psychological intervention for improving rural elderly people's Quality of Life level, especially in the psychological domain.

scholarly journals Quality of life of the elderly in urban and rural areas in Serbia

2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (11) ◽  
pp. 968-974 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jadranka Urosevic ◽  
Gordana Odovic ◽  
Dragan Rapaic ◽  
Mladen Davidovic ◽  
Sanja Trgovcevic ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Elderly People ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Family Members ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Social Contacts ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas ◽  
Anxiety Depression

Background/Aim. The number of elderly people in the world is growing, in Serbia as well. Serbia is already among the top ten countries with the oldest population, it is the fact. Aging influences the quality of life in different ways. The aim of this study was to assess the health-related quality of life of the elderly in urban and rural areas in Serbia. Methods. The study included 100 elderly people aged 65 years and above in urban and rural areas in Serbia. The next questionnaires were used: a sociodemographic questionnaire and a Serbian version of standardized European Euro-QoL questionnaire (EQ-5D-3L), as a basic index for the assessment and description of the quality of life. Results. In the structure of the respondents, according to the achieved social contacts (p = 0.012), the life of those with family members (p = 0.009), and health status (p = 0.000), in relation to the place of residence there was a statistically significant difference. There was a significant difference (p = 0.040), predominantly poor score for anxiety/depression within the rural population. The average value of quality of life in urban and rural areas was not statistically significant (p = 0.720). For those living in rural areas there was a statistically significant positive correlation between anxiety/depression and age, wealth status, marital status, living with family members and achieving social contacts, while a negative correlation was observed between anxiety/depression and education. Conclusion. On the basis of the data of our study, we can say that the presence of anxiety/depression among older people is greater in rural than in urban areas. The results of this study show that the perception of anxiety/depression among older in rural areas is bigger with the age and poverty increasing, the loss of a spouse, life without family members, lack of achievement of social contacts and lower education.

scholarly journals A Collaborative Approach: Care Staff and Families Working Together to Safeguard the Quality of Life of Residents Living With Advanced Dementia

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 117957351984387
Author(s):  
Sian Ellen Hughes ◽  
Bob Woods ◽  
Katherine Algar-Skaife ◽  
Hannah Jelley ◽  
Catrin Hedd Jones
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Care Home ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Direct Care ◽  
Care Staff ◽  
Advanced Dementia ◽  
Structured Interviews

Objectives: This study aimed to explore the quality of life and well-being of care home residents living with advanced dementia, how personalised care can be achieved where the person is completely dependent on others for care and how individuals’ choices and human rights were upheld. Methods: The study design used a qualitative approach, with data collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 8 family members, all of whom visited daily, and 8 care staff. Results: Emerging themes highlighted the importance of family involvement, signs of well-being, communication and the valued role of direct care staff. Discussion: Participants were able to identify factors of residents’ well-being in residents living with advanced dementia. Family members who visited daily saw themselves working collaboratively with care staff to maintain the quality of life of their relatives and engage in proxy decision making. Regarding human rights, the emphasis was on avoiding abuse, rather than promoting well-being.

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