Demand for CAM Practice at Hospitals in Japan: A Population Survey in Mie Prefecture

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies have been provided at hospitals along with conventional medicine in industrialized nations. Previous studies conducted in Japan revealed high proportion of Japanese had experience of using CAM, but failed to discuss how it should be provided. The present study aims to clarify the demand for CAM practice at hospitals in Japan. A questionnaire consisting of 41 questions was mailed to 10 000 adults randomly selected from the electoral roll of Mie prefecture, Japan in January 2007. The questionnaire asked the subjects about demand for CAM practice at hospitals, types of CAM therapy to be provided and associated reasons. Sociodemographic characteristics, perceived health status, experience and purpose of CAM use, and information resource for CAM were also surveyed. Completed answers were collected from 2824 (28.6%) respondents. Two thousand and nineteen (71.5%) of the respondents demanded CAM practice at hospitals with the most likely reason of “patients can receive treatment under the guidance of a physicians". The three most popular CAM therapies were Kampo, acupressure/massage/Shiatsu and acupuncture/moxibustion. The demand was positively associated with gender, ages of 40–59 years, annual household incomes of 5–7 million yen, occupation of specialist and technical workers and sales workers and poor health status. Higher demand was observed among those who used both CAM and conventional medical therapies for curative purposes. In conclusion, Japanese show a high demand for CAM practice, hoping to use CAM for curative purposes with monitoring by physicians at hospitals

The meaning of life for an elderly man living alone : a narrative approach

Aim: To improve nursing care for the elderly in order to allow them to live independently. This study has used the narrative of an elderly man to learn about what has given his life meaning.Method: Fifteen key concepts were extracted from interviews using the narrative approach.Results and Conclusions: Mr. A, now near the end of his life, has found meaning in living his life, not only for himself, but also for those around him. The elderly support their own physical and mental health,and adjust to day-to-day life. Nursing care for the elderly should watch for and support these self-supporting efforts

Stress factors of nurses who at facing restraints for elderly patients with dementia

Aim: The purpose of this study was to clarify the stress factors of nurses who at facing restraints for older people with dementia.MethodsSubjects: Participants were 340 nurses at general wards (excluding wards of emergency, psychiatry, pediatrics, obstetrics, outpatient, operating rooms, and intensive care units). Statistical analysis:The factor structure was confirmedafter exploratory factor analysis (maximum likelihood method: promax rotation) to assess construct validity.Ethical considerations: The questionnaire was designed to ensure privacy and anonymity while allowing participants to complete the form themselves. Participants inserted and sealed the completed questionnaire into an envelope that was provided in advance. The study was conducted with the approval of the ethics committee at Meiji University of Integrative Medicine.Results and conclusionsTo test the validity of item selection and dilemma factors, items were subjected to factor analysis (maximum likelihood method: promax rotation). Of the 30 items, three had a factor loading of 0.45 or a difficulty in interpretation and werethus excluded; the 14 remaining items were used for analysis. Three factors with a characteristic value of 1 were extracted and had a Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure value of 0.84 (p=0.000) .and a cumulative contribution ratio of 60.6%.Explanatory factor analysis revealed three dilemma factors among the 14 items: (a) factor 1: Mental stress; (b) factor 2: Physical stress; (c) factor 3: stress in fear