特別養護老人ホームで暮らす軽度認知症高齢者の自分らしく生きる支え

Self-emotional Support of Older People Living in Nursing Homes with Early Dementia ; Living Their Own Lives

抄録

　本研究の目的は，特別養護老人ホーム（以下，特養）で暮らす軽度認知症高齢者の自分らしく生きる支えを明らかにすることである．A特養に入居する高齢者5人に複数回の半構造化面接を行い，質的記述的に分析した．その結果，特養で暮らす軽度認知症高齢者の自分らしく生きる支えとして，【最期まで過ごす日常が保証されていること】【記憶が紡ぐ家族の存在がもたらす心の安寧】【自分らしさを忘れることなく他者との生活に馴染む力】【不確かな自分を老いとして甘受すること】【人生の回顧によって確かめられる自分の価値観】【過去・現在・未来の自己の連続性を保とうとする意思】の6のカテゴリが抽出された．軽度認知症高齢者の生きる支えには，特養で暮らす軽度認知症高齢者の現在の自分や生活に対する認識，自分の生活に対する感情記憶として残る記憶が重要な影響を及ぼすことが推察された．加えて，軽度認知症高齢者が人生の最期まで自分らしく生きる支えをもつことは，自我発達を促進させる可能性が示唆され，認知症高齢者の自我発達に関する新たな知見が得られたといえよう．

　The purpose of this study was to research self-emotional support for older people living their own lives in nursing homes with early dementia. A qualitative and descriptive analysis was performed based on the the results of semi-structured interviews with five older people with early dementia living in nursing homes. The results show that the self-emotional support of older people can be classified into the following six categories: “Guaranteed daily life until the end of life” “Peace of mind brought by the presence of family by memory” “Ability to adapt to life with others without forgetting who they are” “Accepting the uncertain self as aging” “One's values to be confirmed through life reminiscences” and “Willingness to maintain continuity of self through the past，present，and future”. It was inferred that the perception of older people living in nursing homes with early dementia of their current selves and their lives，and the memories that remain as emotional memories of their lives，have an important influence on their self-emotional support. In addition，it was suggested that self-emotional support for older people with early dementia to live their own lives until the end of their lives may promote their ego development，providing new insights into the ego development of older people with dementia.