Activities of daily living (ADL) of single elderly individuals using social assistive programs in a rural community.

Objectives　The proportion of elderly individuals living alone is increasing in Japan. Matsumoto city office provides social assistive programs such as home help, lunch delivery, life advice, and safety check telephone calls. The purpose of this study was to compare the level of ADL between the elderly using social assistive programs (the use group) and those who did not (the non-use group).Methods　We conducted a cross-sectional study at Shiga district of Matsumoto city in September 2014. A total of 128 elderly individuals participated in this study. Health volunteers asked these subjects to complete a questionnaire without assistance. Measurement items included lifestyle variables and social support networks. With respect to the frequency of use, we used questions that inquired about the use of the social assistive program. We included a set of instruments commonly used in the health assessment of elderly populations: functional capacity (Instrumental ADL, Intellectual Activity, Social Role), social support, nutrition (Mini Nutrition Assessment [MNA]) and depressive symptoms (Geriatric Depression Scale [GDS]).Results　The use group consisted of 24 elderly individuals participating in the social support program. The non-use group consisted of 89 elderly individuals living alone without programs. The mean age of those who completed the survey was 83.9±4.2 years for the use group and 82.3±4.3 years for the non-use group. Comparisons between the two groups did not show significant difference in terms of their intellectual activity, social role, emotional social support, and MNA or GDS scores. The use group was more likely to use the public transfer service and receive instrumental social support from children and relatives.Conclusions　By means of utilizing the public transfer service, and receiving family support, the elderly living alone who used social assistive programs could live independently. These findings suggest a need for improvement in the public transfer service and social network.