Aging & Social Change: Thirteenth Interdisciplinary Conference

Abstract

In Japan, the “8050 problem”, where parents in their 80s who need nursing care and children in their 50s live together, has become an important social issue. In these households, children are usually dependent on their parents, socially withdrawn, and financially challenged. Care managers are in charge of guardians in their 80s. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between care managers’ characteristics and their assessment practices for “8050 problem” cases. For the survey, a self-reported questionnaire was mailed to all 1,410 care managers in Osaka City. The response rate was 11.8%. Independent variables, representing care managers characteristics, were their primary qualification, experience in social work, experience in care management, team approach, and participation in training programs for “8050 problem” cases. The dependent variables, representing the assessment practices for “8050 problem” cases, were mental and living conditions of children’s and parents’ physical and mental conditions, Parents’ perspectives on their lives, and parents and children’s financial situations, living environment, relationships between the informal and formal supports and the parents and children. Structural equation modeling was performed to explore relationships between the variables. The resulting goodness of fit index was within acceptable limits. Parents’ physical and mental conditions (p<.05) and parents’ perspectives on their lives (p<.01) were significantly correlated with participation in training programs for “8050 problem” cases. The results suggest that a training program for “8050 problem” cases is effective in developing appropriate assessment skills for care managers that solve the “8050 problems.”