The Hospital System No.7 : Family Guidance (家族指導)

At the hospital where I work, we are very proactive about providing family guidance in addition to our normal hospital duties.

As a result of conditions such as stroke, pneumonia,bone fracture and so on, the body’s phychology and physiology change, and its functionality is reduced. Such effects are especially pronounced in elderly people, and quite frequently they end up needing assistance at home.

We at the hospital inform the families about such changes and about what the best responses to them would be. We also provide guidance on how to avoid a relapse of the patient’s condition.

Doctors provide general guidance to the families, but specialized medical professionals also provide their own input.

For example:

• nurses can provide guidance on the proper procedures for using tube-based liquid diets
• physical and occupational therapists can provide instructions on movements such as walking and going to the bathroom, and how to assist with those movements
• speech therapists can provide pointers on swallowing during meals and ways to communicate
• nutritionists can help devise meals and nutritional plans
• pharmacists can provide pointers on taking medicine

and so on.

The things that can be communicated inside of a hospital are limited. However, through family guidance like this, I believe that formerly hospitalized patients can make concrete plans that will allow them to stay healthy and begin to rediscover the joys of life.


– Umi Oda
– English by Chay Schiller