Department of Gerontological Home Care and Long-term Care Nursing, Division of Health Sciences & Nursing, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Department of Community Health Nursing, Division of Health Sciences & Nursing, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Psychogeriatrics. 2024 Jan;24(1):117-126. doi: 10.1111/psyg.13050. Epub 2023 Nov 21.
Community members can play important roles in helping older adults in their community. This study aimed to clarify the actual situation of community members' helping behaviours towards older adults and examine the related factors.
This cross-sectional study was conducted using an online survey system with a sample of 1000 community members in the Tokyo metropolitan area selected using quota sampling. Participants were asked about their experiences with helping an older adult, involvement with older adults with dementia, knowledge of dementia and care resources in the community, and perceptions regarding the community. Content analysis was used to classify participants' freely answered responses about helping behaviours, with logistic regression analysis subsequently used to examine the related factors.
Community members provided older adults with various types of spontaneous help, including help with walking (20.0%), accident care (16.8%), giving directions to a destination (11.6%), accompanying them to a destination (12.9%), and support in daily life (10.4%). In the multinominal logistic regression analysis, advanced helping behaviours were associated with having a family member with dementia, experiences involving people living with dementia, knowledge of dementia and community support centres, and a stronger sense of community integration (P < 0.05). The reasons for not being able to help included being physically unable to (42.5%), not feeling responsible (19.3%), not knowing how to help (17.4%), and hesitating to help (14.4%).
The results suggest that providing learning opportunities for community members could further promote their helping behaviours for older adults. These could include interacting with older adults, especially those living with dementia; promoting a sense of community integration; or receiving training in helping actions. Such efforts could support the development of an effective community-based care system for older adults.
社区成员在帮助社区中的老年人方面可以发挥重要作用。本研究旨在阐明社区成员帮助老年人的实际情况，并探讨相关因素。
本横断面研究使用在线调查系统进行，采用配额抽样从东京都地区选取了 1000 名社区成员作为样本。参与者被问及他们帮助老年人的经历、与痴呆症老年人的接触、对痴呆症和社区护理资源的了解以及对社区的看法。使用内容分析法对参与者关于帮助行为的自由回答进行分类，随后使用逻辑回归分析来检验相关因素。
社区成员为老年人提供了各种类型的自发帮助，包括帮助行走（20.0%）、事故护理（16.8%）、指引目的地（11.6%）、陪同前往目的地（12.9%）和日常生活支持（10.4%）。在多项逻辑回归分析中，高级帮助行为与有痴呆症家庭成员、与痴呆症患者接触的经历、对痴呆症和社区支持中心的了解以及更强的社区融合感相关（P<0.05）。无法提供帮助的原因包括身体上无法提供（42.5%）、感觉没有责任（19.3%）、不知道如何提供帮助（17.4%）和犹豫提供帮助（14.4%）。
研究结果表明，为社区成员提供学习机会可以进一步促进他们对老年人的帮助行为。这些机会可以包括与老年人互动，特别是与痴呆症患者互动；促进社区融合感；或接受帮助行为的培训。这些努力可以支持为老年人建立有效的社区护理系统。
