Types of Human Gathering in Small-scale Elderly Care Facility

Individualized care in small-scale nursing homes is becoming more prevalent in Japan in order to meet the personal needs and respect the dignity of the elderly. Since the philosophy of care and the subsequent activities of nursing home staff are changing drastically with the increase in individualized care, creating a comfortable care environment and providing a well-designed space must be taken into consideration. This paper attempts to clarify the actual conditions of a care environment in which individualized care is provided by analyzing the activities of both the residents and care staff. Data were collected from behavioral observations and examination of patterns in the use of space at an elderly care facility that has both Group Living and a Day Service. The results of this paper are as follows: 1) Several types of support, such as Direct care, Conversation care, Organizing groups and Beholding occur at the same time with a varying number of participants, and change depending on the situation. 2) While Direct care and Beholding are the main types of support for Group Living residents, for those using the Day Service, Conversation care is the main type. 3) The care environment should comprise connected spaces, such as a kitchen and dining room, rather than individual or constricted spaces.