Hiroko Mizumura

Disparity in disaster preparedness among rheumatoid arthritis patients with various general health, functional, and disability conditions.

ObjectivesTo describe disaster preparedness among chronically ill patients and to examine how differences in health, functional, and disability conditions are associated with disaster preparedness, focusing on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with various functional and disability levels.MethodsIn 2007, 1,477 members of a nationwide RA patient group in Japan who lived in municipalities affected by natural disasters between 2004 and 2006 were asked to participate in a questionnaire survey. Three medical preparedness indicators, namely, medication stockpiles, the carrying of medications, and the carrying of prescription/treatment records, and three general preparedness indicators, namely, having emergency packs, emergency communication plans, and emergency evacuation plans, were used as dependent variables. Multivariable logistic models were applied to examine the associations of health-related vulnerability variables with the preparedness variables.ResultsOf the 553 subjects included into the analysis, only one-half had taken medical preparedness measures and only one-quarter had taken general preparedness measures. Although physical disability and poorer functional level were associated positively with the medical preparedness, those with poorer perceived health were less likely to carry medications and prescription/treatment records, and those receiving the highest long-term care levels were less likely to carry medications than their healthier counterparts.ConclusionsAmong the population of chronically ill RA patients surveyed, disaster preparedness was insufficient, and their preparedness status varied with health, functional, and disability conditions. We suggest that policy-makers should give careful thought to the targets they set for disaster preparedness.

THE STABILITY AND THE LOCAL AGENDAS OF LIFE CONDITION OF THE ELDERLY REFERRING TO EVERY BLOCK IN KITA WARD, TOKYO

The purpose of this paper is to show the way of the environmental improvement and the support scheme for the sustainable urban living of the elderly. We grasped the 9 types of the elderly in KITA Ward seeing from the stability of the life condition. These types were characterized by the following viewpoints, that is, the lack of human relations or chance of going out, the anxiety and the instability of local living. In addition, the serious instable living types were distributed in the areas where the large-scale housing complex was built. Thus, it is important to analyze the urban life condition in the every block and to consider the measures for each local subject.

Augmented reality based environment design support system for home renovation

To improve the living environment for elderly persons, home renovation is performed. A part of home renovations cost is supported by long-term care insurance in Japan and several tens of problems related to renovation constructions are reported. They are caused by lack of communication and knowledge of constructions. We have developed an Augmented Reality environment design support system for home modifications. Especially it is designed for the persons that need long-term care. The preliminary experiment has been carried out and confirmed the functionality of the system.