Life styles and social welfare needs of the elderly who live on the Amami Islandsand the Yaeyama Islands : anxiety about future life, feeling that life is worth living, eating habits, health-care and welfare services, and regional issues (2)

本研究の目的は、琉球弧の北に位世する鹿児島県の奄美諸励と南に位置する沖縄県の八重山諸島における島嘆地域の高齢者の生活の現状と福祉ニーズを把握することである。調査対象地は、奄美諸島の中心である奄美市(島嶼都市部)および瀬戸内町の加計呂麻島、請島、与路島(島嶼集落部)、八重山諸島の中心である石垣市(島嶼都市部)、竹富町西表島西部および鳩間島(島嶼集落部)であった。鹿児島県の場合、特に島嘆集落は過疎高齢化が進行し、集落機能の低下を余儀なくされている。沖細県の場合、鹿児島県ほどの過疎高齢化は進んでいない状況であるが、島嶼地域のもつ生活上の課題を共有している。いずれも、相互扶助の伝統等の地域文化あるいはその精神が残っているという共通点を持つ地域である。 本稿では、前稿に引き続き、日常生活の不安と生きがい感､食生活､保健医療･福祉サービス、暮らし向きと地域の問題等についての分析結果とそのまとめを示す。将来の生活不安は島喚集落部の方が島嶼都市部よりも不安を感じる人が多かった。一方、生きがい感は、島嶼都市部の方が高かった。食生活では、栄養面のバランスを欠きやすい環境下にあった。保健医療では、島嶼集落部は医療サービスの地域格差への不満や問題が見られると同時に、健康に対するセルフケア意識の高さが伺えた。福祉サービスでは、島嶼集落部では天候や交通手段によるサービスの中止や困難性などが生じていた。暮らし向きと地域の問題では地域差はなく、共通して台風､交際費､老後の生活の不安があげられ、特に瀬戸内町で地域の問題を感じている人が多かった。

The purpose of the study was to investigate the life styles and the social welfare needs of the　elderly who live on the Amami Islands and the Yaeyama Islands through a questionnaire survey. The regions surveyed were the urban area of the Amami Ohshima (Amami City) and the rural area of the Kakeroma Islands (Setouchi Town) in Kagoshima prefecture, and the urban area of Ishigaki Island (Ishigaki City) and the rural area of Iriomote Island and Hatoma Island (Taketomi Town) in Okinawa Prefecture. The people who dwell on these remote islands are usually under unfavorable conditions geographically and economically and the communities there are under functional decline due to depopulation and aging. On the other hand, these islands keep the spirit of mutual helping and the traditional cultures. In this paper we report analyses of the anxiety about future life, the feeling that life is worth living, the eating habits, the evaluation of health-care services and welfare services, the family finances, and other regional issues. The anxiety about future life was higher in the rural areas of the islands than in the urban areas. On the other hand, the feeling that life is worth living was higher in the urban areas of the islands than in the rural areas. Respondents were prone to eat poor-balanced meals. In the rural areas of the islands, while they expressed their dissatisfaction with regional gaps of health-care services, they showed high awareness of self-care about their own health. In the rural areas of the islands, welfare services at home were sometimes cancelled by bad weather or transportation trouble by sea. There was no difference in the family finances and regional issues between areas. Regional issues shared by all islands were the vulnerability to typhoons, high social expenses, and the anxiety about life in the future, and especially the elderly in the Setouchi Town listed more regional issues than those in other areas. area of the Kakeroma Islands (Setouchi Town) in Kagoshima prefecture, and the urban area of Ishigaki Island (Ishigaki City) and the rural area of Iriomote Island and Hatoma Island (Taketomi Town) in Okinawa Prefecture. The people who dwell on these remote islands are usually under unfavorable conditions geographically and economically and the communities there are under functional decline due to depopulation and aging. On the other hand, these islands keep the spirit of mutual helping and the traditional cultures. In this paper we report analyses of the anxiety about future life, the feeling that life is worth living, the eating habits, the evaluation of health-care services and welfare services, the family finances, and other regional issues. The anxiety about future life was higher in the rural areas of the islands than in the urban areas. On the other hand, the feeling that life is worth living was higher in the urban areas of the islands than in the rural areas. Respondents were prone to eat poor-balanced meals. In the rural areas of the islands, while they expressed their dissatisfaction with regional gaps of health-care services, they showed high awareness of self-care about their own health. In the rural areas of the islands, welfare services at home were sometimes cancelled by bad weather or transportation trouble by sea. There was no difference in the family finances and regional issues between areas. Regional issues shared by all islands were the vulnerability to typhoons, high social expenses, and the anxiety about life in the future, and especially the elderly in the Setouchi Town listed more regional issues than those in other areas.