A CASE STUDY ON CONTINUITIES OF RELATIONS BETWEEN LOCAL LIVING ENVIRONMENTS AND THE ELDERLY MOVED TO A GROUP LIVING

Japanese nursing homes are usually located far away from urban districts. Therefore, the elderly have to move there away from their own homes. However, it is supposed to be important for the elderly to keep relations to their own local environments, even if they have to move to nursing homes. This paper verifies continuities of relations between local living environments and the elderly with dementia, who moved to a group living in their living areas, and discusses on a requirement and a significance of them. On-site observations were held mainly as for behaviors and sayings of inhabitants of the group living, when they went out. Conclusions are as follows;1. It is verified that six inhabitants, who moved from near the group living, have kept some relations with their local living environments.2. Current inhabitants' local living environments are thought to have close relations to their own histories of living environments.3. A requirement for continuities of local living environments of inhabitants is thought to be moving in their own living areas, approximately 600m.4. A significance of continuities of local living environments is thought that they can give inhabitants reliefs by keeping their senses of hometowns.