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Kei Kudo

Publications and source records attributed to Kei Kudo.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

[Development of the Home Care Quality Assessment Index (HCQAI)].

AIM: To develop a Home Care Quality Assessment Index (HCQAI) that may be used for overall assessment of home care in three areas: 1) conditions of the impaired elderly (outcome); 2) caregiver and caregiving situation (process); and 3) the home care environment (input). METHODS: To develop the HCQAI, a list of items for assessment was drawn up, and the reliability of each item was verified. Reliability was investigated by a) test-retest reliability, and b) inter-rater reliability. Impaired elderly and their family caregivers who used the visiting nurse station of the Okazaki Medical Association were surveyed. A kappa coefficient of 0.4 or greater generally served as the inclusion criteria for test-retest and inter-rater reliability of each item. A factor analysis was conducted for items satisfying the above criteria, using 10 scales. RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha showing internal consistency (reliability) for these scales was 0.6-0.9. Two scales corresponded to care within the home: the "barrier-free" and "improvement of water facilities"; three to the caregiver situation: "dressing appropriate for the season," "mistreatment by the elderly," and "hygiene and assistance"; and five involved conditions of the impaired elderly: "cognition," "paralysis," "vision and hearing," "ADL," and "gross motor." CONCLUSION: The HCQAI developed in the present study, consisting of 41 items, can assess quality of home care both objectively and comprehensively, based on professional staff observation. Few indexes of this kind exist worldwide to scientifically assess input, process and outcome in the delivery of quality home care for the impaired elderly.

Aged↗
PubMed2004

Factors related to feelings of burden among caregivers looking after impaired elderly in Japan under the Long-Term Care insurance system.

Since the 1970s, the burden of caregiving has been the subject of rather intense study, a trend that will continue with the rapid graying of populations worldwide. Since the Long-Term Care insurance system began in 2000, few cross-sectional studies have attempted to identify factors related to the feelings of burden among caregivers looking after the impaired elderly in Japan. In the present report, among 46 pairs of caregivers and impaired elderly, the elderly receiving regular nurses' visits in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan were assessed for problems with activities of daily living, the severity of dementia, the presence of behavioral disturbance, and cognitive impairment. The caregivers were asked to complete questionnaires in relation to their feelings of burden and caregiving situation. The results indicated that caregivers of impaired elderly with behavioral disturbances were more likely to feel a 'heavier burden.' Those temporarily relieved of caregiving three or more hours a day were less likely to experience 'heavier' caregiver burden than those who were not. Moreover, caregivers who found it 'inconvenient' to use care services tended to be more likely to feel a 'heavier' caregiver burden than those who did not. Recourse to respite services, which are ideally positioned to help, proved inconvenient because of their advance reservation system. More ready access to respite services in emergencies could do much to reduce caregiver burden.

Activities of Daily Living↗