| [ Summary ] |
According to statistics from the Japanese Society for Dialysis Therapy, the number of chronic dialysis patients in our country was more than 320,000 at the end of 2014. The average age of dialysis patients is 67.54, which is 0.33 years older than in 2013. Of the male patients, 28.4 % are over 70 years old as are 51.4 % of the female patients. About half of the patients require dialysis because of diabetic nephropathy. We can also note that the number of patients with cardiovascular diseases has increased.
In this situation, we need to support family members of aged dialysis patients who need nursing care. Furthermore, it is important to use social resources for these family members to be able to continue to take care of patients at their home. We, the nursing staff, need more information about social resources and how to use them to support these patients and their families. |