Abstract
Objective: To investigate depression among caregivers of the disabled elderly in urban Japan before and after public long-term care insurance for the elderly began. Design: prospective cohort study. Subjects: 48 pairs of caregivers and the disabled elderly who received regular nurse visits from a nurse station located in Oita, Japan. Study period: From February and March 2000 just before the introduction of public long-term care insurance for the elderly to September 2000. Main outcome: Successful caregiving (i.e., caring the disabled elderly without suffering depression). Result: A half year follow-up study revealed that depressed caregivers felt a heavier burden and were less likely to achieve successful caregiving than non-depressed caregivers. Furthermore, There were no significant difference between before and after the introduction of this insurance with regard to either caregivers' burden or the social services used by caregivers. Conclusion: The quality and quantity of social services for the disabled elderly and their caregivers may not suffice despite the introduction of public long-term care insurance for the elderly.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 251-255 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | International Medical Journal |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Publication status | Published - Dec 2002 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Medicine(all)