Daily life support for older adults evaluated by commissioned welfare volunteers

Japan has a unique system of commissioned welfare volunteers who are familiar with neighborhoods and can identify the households requiring assistance and connect them to public support. In the present study, an anonymous self-rated questionnaire was delivered to commissioned welfare volunteers to clarify the daily life supports provided for elderly households requiring assistance, and 2270 data were collected. The questionnaires included information about elderly households requiring assistance and public support provided. The mean number of households visited in a month was 16.5 ± 20.5 SD. The most frequent provided supports for households was “Confirmation of general condition by visit” (13.5%), “Conversational partner” (6.3%), “Meals on wheels” (4.1%), and “Confirmation of general condition by phone” (3.0%). These results indicated the potential needs of the households requiring assistance and provided daily life support as demonstrated by commissioned welfare volunteers.