訪問看護師が孤立の可能性を認識した高齢介護者の特徴

Characteristics of Isolated Elderly Caregivers That Are Recognizable by Visiting Nurses

抄録

　本研究では，訪問看護師が孤立の可能性があると認識した高齢介護者の特徴を明らかにすることを目的とした．20人の訪問看護師を対象に半構成的面接調査を2013年12月〜2014年2月に行った．内容は，基本属性と訪問看護師が孤立の可能性があると認識した高齢介護者の特徴についてであった．記述内容は質的帰納的に分析した．語られた33の事例から，6カテゴリー，17サブカテゴリーが見いだされた．カテゴリーは，介護への過剰な専心など【高齢介護者の個人特性】【高齢介護者と家族の情緒的交流の欠如】【社会参加の減少】，心理的・実質的サポートの不足など【不十分な介護支援体制による孤独な介護】，孤独感，不安感，不適切な介護など【介護に伴うストレス反応】，希薄な地域関係など【社会関係を阻む生活環境】であった．介護者の個人特性，情緒的交流，社会参加，介護の支援体制，ストレス反応，環境は高齢者を介護する介護者における孤立の指標となり得る．これらの特徴は，介護者の孤立を予測する手がかりとして，支援を必要とする高齢介護者の早期発見や支援に役立つものと考える．

　The purpose of this study was to find specific characteristics of isolated elderly caregivers that are recognizable by visiting nurses. Twenty visiting nurses were asked about isolation in caregivers in semi-structured interviews from December 2013 to February 2014. A qualitative and inductive approach was used for analysis. Six categories and seventeen subcategories were derived from thirty-three cases as follows: “personal characteristics of the caregivers”, such as excessive absorption in caregiving, “emotional transaction between a caregiver and care receivers”, “decrease in social participation”, “lonely care with an insufficient support system”, such as inadequate psychological or practical support, “stress reaction with caregiving”, such as feeling alone or anxious, or providing inappropriate caregiving, and “the living environment in which social relations are not built”. Personal characteristics of caregivers, emotional transaction, social participation, support systems, stress reaction and environment can be indicators of isolation in caregivers for the elderly. These characteristics can be used as keys to predict isolation and can also be used to find caregivers who need help and to provide support for them.