The Relationship between Direct Contact Care and Common Spaces in Nursing Homes in Relation to Caring for the Severe Symptomatic Residents

Yukako Tanimoto (Waseda University)

【Objectives】
The condition of elderly residents in nursing homes in Japan is deteriorating. Because of the elderly residents' physical disabilities and severity of their dementia, they are both unable to communicate with each other and unable to experience much freedom of movement, so most residents can only stay either in their bedroom or the nursing homes common areas.

Therefore, this study focuses on the care staff's approach toward elderly residents, in which their presence and caring methods are essential to actively stimulate them.

Unit Care and Care Work in Sociology by Oka (2016) states that the recent ways in caring for the elderly with dementia have changed due to doing two things at once, therefore, this paper will focus on Care-giving while conversing. This paper divides the care staff's tasks into direct and Indirect care work and then carefully analyzes direct contact care and how this is connected with the floor plans of two specific nursing homes. Direct contact care means assisting the residents with their daily needs by interacting with them closely like talking to them, guiding them while eating, and taking a bath.

【Methodological approach】
Two nursing homes which have similar management styles and levels of dementia were selected for this research, however their common spaces are completely different.

Qualitative surveys were carried out by one observer in both nursing homes regarding the movements and activities of 3 care staff and 10 residents in one unit. We make a record about their behavior every minute from morning until evening and compare the two homes.

【Main findings and conclusions】
・More care-giving while conversing situations leads to an increasing amount of direct contact care which is beneficial to the residents, therefore the appropriate layout of the living room, kitchen and work desk is essential in order to increase these situations.