How the elderly utilizing in-home care services of the long-term care insurance system in Japan purchase foods and daily necessaries

对接受居家养老服务的老年人购买食品和生活必需品的情况进行了实况调查，并在全国各地的养老机构随机发放了邮寄问卷。我们分析了1535名“需要照顾”的老人和1067名帮助者的有效回复。超过80%的老年人依靠帮助者、其他家庭或与他们不住在一起的孩子来购物。只有20%的老年人自己购物。一半的老年人，他们的护理经理和助手分别回应说，生命支持服务不足。依赖他人购物可能会加速衰老过程，并阻碍老年人身心功能的恢复。更重要的是增加老年人在助手陪同下自己购物的机会，以防止衰老，从而降低总体长期护理成本。

A fact finding survey investigation how elderly receiving in-home care services shopped for foods and daily necessaries was conducted using postal questionnaires distributed to care facilities nationwide that were randomly selected.Valid responses from 1535 "care required" elderlies and 1067 helpers were analyzed. More than 80% of the elderlies were depend on helpers, other households or their children with whom they didn't live, for their shopping. Only 20% of the elderlies went shopping by themselves. Half of the elderlies, their care-managers and helpers, respectively, responded that life support services were insufficient. Dependence on others for shopping may possibly contribute to the ageing process and prevent recovery of mental and physical functions in the elderly. Far more important is to increase the opportunity for the elderly to go shopping by themselves accompanied by a helper to prevent ageing and thus reduce overall long-term care costs.