Page 144 - GHES-2-1

Global Health Econ Sustain Elderly people with dementia

development and national characteristics within the caregivers across Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan within
Asian context. Moreover, these three regions are noted for the Asian context. Moreover, trends in age, sex, and other
their unique Asian tendencies in relationship-building attributes of elderly patients with dementia and family
methods and the synchronization of their thoughts with caregivers at home in these regions also exhibited similarity.
those of family members. The significance of these results Regarding attributes of family caregivers, employment and
lies in the similarity of caregiving sentiments among marital status varied by country, with significantly fewer
Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan, despite differences single people in Japan and a higher rate of unemployment.
in support systems and facility adequacy for elderly In addition, Japan exhibited a significantly higher rate
family caregivers with dementia, especially among Asian of alcohol consumption among caregivers, possibly as a
countries. Based on the findings of this study, we believe coping mechanism for the caregiving burden. The study
that eliciting detailed feelings from caregivers in each also observed that the use of nursing homes and hospitals
country can help prioritize necessary aspects for future was significantly higher in Hong Kong and Japan compared
caregiving while identifying areas of lesser concern. To to Singapore.
understand which regions in Asia exhibit similar trends
in terms of the burden on elderly patients with dementia Acknowledgments
and their caregivers, it is necessary to carefully investigate We would like to thank the collaborating institutions and
the situation of family caregiving in each of these regions,
with a focus on Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan post- study participants for their cooperation in this study.
pandemic. Funding

As such, our plan is to conduct country-specific surveys This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI (Grant
within Asia, focusing on the evolving caregiving situation number: JP16K12229).
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A limitation of the study is the inclusion of data solely Conflict of interest
from Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan. In addition, the The authors declare no competing interest.
study was based on conditions immediately before the
COVID-19 pandemic, rendering replication of the study Author contributions
extremely difficult.
Conceptualization: Keiko Matsumoto, Misae Ito, Daphne
The focus of future research should be to investigate Sze-Ki Cheung
the care needs of family caregivers of elderly patients with Formal analysis: Keiko Matsumoto
dementia, particularly focusing on the societal phenomena Investigation: Keiko Matsumoto, Siok Bee Tan, Misae Ito,
that arise after the COVID-19 pandemic. To this end, we Shimpei Hayashi
aim to conduct further research within the Asian region, Writing – original draft: Keiko Matsumoto
with a specific focus on Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Writing – review & editing: Daphne Sze-Ki Cheung,
5. Conclusion Masafumi Kirino
This study examined the caregiving status of elderly patients Ethics approval and consent to participate
with dementia at home and their family caregivers in three In Japan, family caregivers of elderly patients with
regions (Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan) immediately dementia at home were the study subjects. Consent was
before the COVID-19 pandemic. The results revealed obtained from the study subjects by the director of the
that family caregivers were mostly female, approximately hospital, nurses, and clinical psychologists after explaining
60 years old, across all three regions, mirroring a trend of the the purpose of the study and ethical considerations. The
younger generation assuming caregiving responsibilities. director of the hospital recommended subjects considered
Similarly, elderly patients with dementia were mostly eligible for the study. The recommended subjects were then
female, living alone in their 80s, with a high percentage informed of the ethical considerations before the survey,
also having diabetes as a coexisting condition. In addition, and their consent was obtained.
the perception of the caregiving burden in Japan tended
to be higher, even though there was no significant decline The study was approved by the Research Ethics
in the patients’ physical function, and the patients’ degree Committee, Kawasaki University of Health and Welfare,
of dementia remained low. These results indicate a certain under protocol number 15-050, and was conducted in
degree of similarity in the perception of caregiving burden accordance with the principles of the Declaration of
among elderly patients with dementia and their family Helsinki.

Volume 2 Issue 1 (2024) 15 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.1954