Investigation of factors related to housebound elderly individuals living alone and a program for prevention of long-term care

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In the present study, which focused on elderly individuals living alone, we elucidated the causes of problems or anxiety associated with living alone in order to develop a program for prevention of long-term care based on individual lifestyles.In 2006, we created a program for prevention of long-term care that included exercise and precautions related to prevention of care and implemented it on a total of 179 individuals at regional facilities. The results showed that some participants had joint contracture or reduced physical function, and that a continuous program was necessary for preventing these conditions.In 2007, we implemented a modified program a total of 20 times and evaluated its effects. Subjects were a total of 34 individuals receiving day services who had a mean age of 84.7±4.2 years. Although subjects tended to have difficulty "getting up from bed" and "getting up from a chair", they had less difficulty with these tasks after the program. In addition, although the risk o … More f falls "at home" was high, this risk significantly decreased following the program. Regarding gait, the number of steps per a given distance decreased, indicating a longer step. Subsequently, motion detectors were installed at the homes of three elderly individuals living alone in order to elucidate their behavioral patterns and levels of exercise. Specifically, patterns of daily living and data such as the number of trips to the bathroom and movements inside rooms were obtained. Moreover, after one month of data collection, the amount of physical activity per day was calculated and a home-based program for prevention of long-term care was provided. Furthermore, these activities were observed daily by families, who contacted the elderly individuals depending on the status of activities and thus had opportunities to communicate with them.The results indicated the possibility that elderly individuals may have problems or anxiety regarding daily living activities that require leg muscle strength due to reductions in physical function. However, provision of preventive care program that measures movement among the elderly in terms of daily activity levels and considers individual needs was considered effective as it reduced anxiety as well as the risk of falls. Less