Research projects

The purpose of this study is to clarify how caregivers read and interpret the wills of people with dementia who are in the terminal stage, with a particular focus on the role of caregiving family members. Currently, one of the important goals in dementia care is to respect the patient's wills. However, since dementia is characterized by memory impairment and communication disorders, various difficulties arise.Therefore, family caregivers often attempt to interpret the patient's wills based on the patient's life history and make choices on their behalf, but even so, limitations arise. The COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020 has intensified these difficulties. This study investigated the difficulties faced by family caregivers since the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing particularly on "remote visiting" efforts in nursing home.

In this study, we attempted to comprehensively and critically integrate the sociology of dementia and ageing with the sociology of disability through discussions among co-researchers in a workshop. Furthermore, through dialogue and discussions with young researchers using new methods and perspectives to conduct similar research, we aimed to describe the diverse aspects of support practices in local communities. At the time this research was conducted, the COVID-19 pandemic posed significant challenges to support practices in local communities. Participating researchers reviewed their fieldwork methods and adopted approaches that did not rely on fieldwork to continue their research. Based on this experience, we re-examined research conducted over the past 20 years in the field of support and care, published specific research papers and books, and disseminated some of these findings in English.

This study identified factors promoting and hindering the acceptance of care technologies, as well as gaps in expectations among middle-aged and older adults, family caregivers, care professionals, and technology developers. It demonstrated that alignment with users’ values and care culture, and the transparency of technology, strongly influence acceptance. Introducing a service system perspective was found to help bridge understanding gaps and promote collaborative implementation. In addition, the study developed a scale to assess stigma consciousness among family caregivers, providing fundamental insights for trust-based technology integration in care.