The purpose of this study is to investigate the coping and related factors in 11 elderly care givers, who had nursed their spouses for over 4 years at home, through interviews. The care process consisted of four phases : the onset of disease, and before, during and after the initiation of home care. At the onset of disease in the husband or wife, the spouse generally felt either strong devotion for or felt pity for the patient, or felt threatened by the disease. Then, before the start of home nursing, the care-giving spouse usually had feelings of devotion, confusion or resignation. During the initiation of care, the healthy spouse fell into two categories : those who took action decisively and those who let things take their course. After nursing had started, the care giver coped with the difficult situation in one of two ways. One, a positive approach, the health spouse regarded nursing as easy and rewarding, felt privileged to be the care giver and tried to improve the situation by continuing to enjoy life. Conversely, some care givers coped in a negative way, viewing the situation as an unfortunate fate, and carried out care-taking mechanically, or by praising himself/herself too much or by behaving with excessive buoyance. The ability to cope was highly affected by the nature of the husband-wife relationship. "Cooperative" couples tended to accept the situation rationally and the role of care giver positively ; however, suddenly losing their motivation to care for their spouse does occur, and, thus, support networks are needed. On the other hand, "dependent" couples were unlikely to easily accept the situation and may require intensive support. "Dysfunctional" couples showed a tendency towards mechanical care taking or quitting altogether, so consideration must be made as to whether home care is appropriate in such situations.

国立情報学研究所で電子化