An elderly parent who lives alone at home has begun to show symptoms of dementia, such as forgetting to take his medicine and being unable to take care of himself.
However, one day I was infected with Corona, and as soon as I told the visiting care office, I was informed that my usual helper could not come.
Life is difficult without nursing care, so what should I do?
Cases like this are happening all over the world.
(Corporate News Reporter Kota Iida)
The infection is confirmed, and the helper is...
A woman in her 90s living alone in her home in Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo, was confirmed to be infected with Corona on September 7th.
The woman has dementia and other diseases such as high blood pressure, and she lives with the help of nursing care services of at least two visits a day and a visit to the bath twice a week.
However, because her symptoms were mild, she was not hospitalized, and when it was decided that she would be recuperating at home, the home-visit nursing care and home-visit bathing helpers she used during the 10-day isolation period were at risk of infection to staff. I have decided to discontinue the service.
It is difficult for a woman to eat or take medicine by herself, and her life will be greatly affected if this situation continues.
instead of helper
Therefore, the care manager in charge asked a visiting nurse in the same area instead of a helper to monitor the patient's health, assist with eating and taking medication, and take care of simple personal care.
The nurse who visited the woman responded by brushing teeth, cleaning dentures, assisting excretion, changing sheets, washing the woman's hair and wiping her body.
Ryo Sakamoto, representative of the visiting nursing station "Bizina" who responded, "
Basically, visiting nurses provide medical support such as monitoring the physical condition of people receiving medical treatment at home, and do not undertake nursing care work, but this time. Since there were many difficulties in living alone with dementia, we decided to deal with it as a social necessity.If nurses also get infected, it will affect their lives and lives, so we have taken measures. I am very careful.”
Abnormal situation, why is it happening?
In this case, I happened to have a visiting nurse who I could ask to take care of me, so I was able to handle it, but there is no system in place.
In fact, there are many cases in various places where nursing care is not available due to suspension of nursing care services due to the spread of infection and restrictions on use.
In particular, in the "seventh wave" that began in July, both the elderly who need nursing care and the nursing care establishments such as helpers will see an unprecedented number of infected people one after another. There is an abnormal situation in which the nursing care services that are indispensable for the elderly cannot be sufficiently provided.
The difference between the "7th wave" and the past is that the number of "elderly people recuperating at home instead of hospitalization" has increased.
Since elderly people are at high risk of becoming seriously ill, it has been said that "in principle, if you are infected, you should be hospitalized."
On the other hand, there are many elderly people who are recuperating at home due to COVID-19 and many of them need "visit nursing care", but the reason why it is becoming difficult is due to the circumstances of the business operators and helpers.
Unlike medical professionals such as nurses, many helpers do not have the expertise to prevent infection.
Visiting infected people is a heavy burden, and the reality is that it is difficult for business operators to force their staff to visit them.
Investigation by four organizations with dementia
Regarding these problems, four groups made up of people with dementia and their families will conduct an online questionnaire survey on their families and supporters from February to April this year about the impact of the prolonged corona disaster. We summarized the results in August.
Of the 288 responses, 58%, more than half, said that the effects of the corona sickness had exacerbated the symptoms of dementia and reduced mental and physical functions.
In the background, it seems that the successive suspensions and restrictions on the use of nursing care services due to the spread of infection are not insignificant. rice field.
In the free comments in the questionnaire, there were cases in which people with dementia had difficulty recognizing that their physical condition had changed when they were infected with the coronavirus, so there were cases in which ``the symptoms worsened due to delays in response,'' and in some cases, ``death.'' It means that there was also a report.
The four groups provide support for family caregivers when they become ill, citing that if the situation continues to have a large impact on the person's life and the burden of nursing care on the family, "there is a danger that the person and the family will collapse together." We are planning to submit a request to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in the near future, asking for support measures to minimize restrictions on the system and nursing care services for people with dementia.
Support that does not rely solely on “individual effort”
We spoke with Shinya Ishii, a specialist in dementia and a specially appointed professor at the Hiroshima University Graduate School of Symbiotic Social Medicine, for more information.
“There have been cases of people with dementia who have been unable to receive nursing care since the early days of the spread of the infection, but with this “seventh wave,” the number of infected people has increased so much that the problem has become more apparent.
If helpers are no longer available and they cannot provide support and care, they will not be able to live their lives. can occur.
In order to prevent it, the current situation is that someone says, ``There is no choice
,'' or ``I have to do it,'' and is dealing with it at the risk of infection.
He pointed out that it is necessary to build a mechanism that does not rely on
“Instead of relying on the efforts of individuals as we do now, businesses that continue to provide nursing care and medical services even if there are dementia patients who live alone or in households with only elderly people who are infected, will need human resources. In addition, it will become increasingly necessary to secure temporary facilities so that these people can enter on a priority basis.
” , points out that the system should be reviewed so that support can be provided to these people in the future when the infection spreads.
"Currently, there is a reality that high-risk people who do not receive attention are left behind from support, and it is necessary to review our response and focus on creating a system to support such people."