An investigation of factors related to the use of respite care services for children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities (SMID) living at home in Japan.

Limited time away from the child is cited as the main factor that increases the burden for the primary caregiver of severely disabled children. The aim of this study was to quantitatively elucidate the factors related to the desire to use social services and the actual use of respite care services by the primary caregivers of severely disabled children in Japan. In this study, we investigated the use of respite care services in accordance with the primary caregivers' wishes by examining inhibiting or promoting factors associated with respite care service use only among those who wished to use social services. A total of 169 Japanese mothers participated and answered the questionnaires. We conducted a logistic regression analysis and a multiple regression analysis to investigate the factors related to respite care service use. The most important factors affecting a primary caregiver's desire to use social services were the belief that the child would enjoy using social services and the family's approval of the social service use. The most important factors affecting respite care service use were the family's approval of the use and a large care burden on the primary caregiver. Respite care services should be sought out before the care burden becomes too great to enable the primary caregiver to more easily contribute to the continuation of home care. A background of mother-child separation anxiety disrupted the use of respite care. However, believing that the child enjoys using social services may reduce primary caregivers' psychological resistance to being separated from their child, which is supported by tradition. Thus, it is also important for respite care service providers to provide information about the children to their primary caregivers and families while they are using respite care services.

Influence of an educational videotape on attitudes toward participating in cohort studies--results of a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to examine whether an educational videotape might change peoples' attitudes toward participating in future cohort studies by a prospective randomized controlled trial. METHODS: The participants were recruited from the residents of Kamogawa-city (139 at a health promotion festival, 54 from a nursery care study class, 53 from an elderly class, and 9 individuals who had not attended a health checkup for more than 10 years). All participants were randomized into a control group and an intervention group, and were asked to fill out a questionnaire designed to evaluate attitudes toward participating in future cohort studies. Those in the intervention group, however, were also asked to watch a videotape, produced by the authors to explain the objectives, significance, and security policies of a cohort study planned to be conducted in the same city, before completing the questionnaire. RESULTS: In the intervention group, 44% (54/123) showed a positive attitude to future participation, while the figure was only 25% (31/122) in the control group (Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel chi2: P=0.0025). CONCLUSION: The videotape proved to be a useful tool for informing the general public about the nature of cohort studies and to increasing probable participation.