[Relationship between local seniors' longest-held occupation, current work situation, and reasons for working].

Objective　The purpose of this study was to clarify how the type and industry of longest-held occupations correlate with current work situations and reasons for working.Methods　In August 2015, we mailed anonymous, self-administered questionnaires to all 8,075 residents aged 65 and over of a district in Ota Ward, Tokyo, excluding those admitted to institutions. The questionnaire inquired about their basic attributes, current employment status, as well as the type of work and industry of their longest-held occupation. Furthermore, those who were currently employed were asked about their reasons for working. We conducted a multinomial logistic regression analysis with the current employment situation as the dependent variable, and a binary logistic regression analysis with the applicability of individual reasons as the dependent variable.Results　A total of 5,184 questionnaires were returned (response rate: 64.2%), and 5,050 were analyzed. For the longest-held form of work, the most common response was full-time and part-time employment (42.7%), and the most common industry was sales and service (24.2%). Roughly 30% of respondents were currently working, with the most common reason being "For a living," followed by "For my health," "To have a purpose in life (ikigai)," and "To contribute to society and build connections." The industry of the longest-held occupation for those currently working was most often self-employment; executive roles in independent businesses, companies, or organizations for those in full-time positions; and professional jobs for those working part-time. For those not currently working, most had been full-time employees or unemployed. With regard to the longest-held occupations, those currently working and who gave the reason "For a living" were most often owners of independent businesses or self-employed, while those stating "For my health," "To have a purpose in life," and "To contribute to society and build connections" had often been full-time employees, executives at a company or organization, or in administrative or technical positions.Conclusion　For seniors' employment or social participation to go smoothly, we believe a support that emphasizes individuality would be effective, including an emphasis on their longest-held occupation, which is deeply connected to their health conditions and quality of life in old age.

Gender differences in spousal caregiving in Japan.

BACKGROUND: Gender differences in spousal caregivers and their relationship to care experiences, social demographics, and caregivers' depression were examined. METHODS: A stratified random sample of 2,020 users of public long-term care insurance in a city of Osaka prefecture, Japan, participated in this study. Responses from 308 spouses (56.2% wives, 43.8% husbands) were analyzed. Variables relating to care experiences, social demographics, and caregivers' depression were compared by conducting simultaneous analyses of multiple populations. RESULTS: Wives caring for husbands had higher depression scores than husbands caring for wives. Wives tended to adopt "emotional support seeking" and "willing commitment" as coping strategies for their caregiving experience. Husband caregivers used more home-care services; however, increased service use had no effect on husbands' depression. The availability of secondary caregivers reduced depression for caregivers, regardless of gender. CONCLUSIONS: The effects on depression differed related to the caregiver's gender. Husbands relied more on family or home-care services when caring for their wives, whereas wives provided higher levels of care, positively accepted their role, and did not seek to share caregiving, but sought emotional support.

[Evaluation of gender differences of family caregivers with reference to the mode of caregiving at home and caregiver distress in Japan].

PURPOSE: Male caregivers are growing in number, as the frequency of spouse caregiving rapidly increases. This study aimed to examine gender differences in family caregivers with reference to the mode of caregiving and caregiver distress in Japan. It was designed to clarify the characteristics of both female and male caregivers. METHODS: The subjects were 2,020 users of public Long-term Care Insurance, randomly stratified and sampled in Higashi-osaka city, Osaka prefecture. Data were collected through mailed, anonymous self-report questionnaires. 1,287 (63.7%) surveys were collected and data from 868 caregivers and care recipients were analyzed, after excluding incomplete cases from 947 participants who were family caregivers. We compared males and females for the level of nursing needs, cognitive disorders of their care recipients, the types and amounts of care provided, the levels of their burdens and the depression associated with providing care, the availability of informal support, the frequency of usage of Long-term care insurance services, and the types of stress coping strategies. RESULTS: Of the total, 27.1% of the caregivers were male. Their age was higher than that of females, but the age of care recipients of female caregivers was significantly higher than that of care recipients of males. There were no significant gender differences in the level of nursing needs of recipients. However, cognitive disorders of care recipients of female caregivers were more severe. Female caregivers spent more time providing care, and performed a greater number of care activities. In particular, female caregivers assisted their care recipients in taking medications, dressing, bathing, eating, meal preparation, shopping, laundry, and money management more often to a significant degree. Furthermore, the average scores for burden and depression were higher in female than in male caregivers. Concerning the usage of Long-term care insurance services, males used a Home-helper service more often. Female caregivers used types of Informal support seeking and Positive acceptance of caregiving role as coping strategies more often than the men. Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that caregiver's subjective burden and types of informal support seeking, as well as acceptance of the caregiving role were significantly higher in female caregivers. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that there are significant gender differences regarding the mode of caregiving and experience of caregiver distress in Japan. It is important that future research be focused on supplying appropriate social support for family caregivers, taking gender differences into account.