The Designing for Dementia Knowledge Library

Setsuko Tsuchida (alias)

Age:

85 years old （As of October 2020 interview）

Year of birth:

1935

Place of residence:

Kunitachi City, Tokyo

Relatives living together:

Lives alone

Occupation:

Former Japanese restaurant owner / specialty restaurant owner / insurance representative

Age of onset:

About 82 years old

Age of diagnosis:

82 years old

Diagnosis:

Alzheimer type

Dementia rating scale?Mini-Mental State Examination（MMSE）
The most widely used screening test internationally for identifying dementia, in which questions are asked directly to subjects. The MMSE assesses cognitive functions with a series of questions/tasks related to orientation, memory, attention and calculation, language, giving commands and copying a picture. The test yields the highest score of 30 points, and, in general, those who score 23 points or lower are identified as suspected patients with dementia.Revised Hasegawa's Dementia Scale (HDS-R)
A screening test widely used in Japan for identifying dementia, in which questions are asked directly to subjects. It has 9 questions/tasks related to age, orientation, immediate memory and delayed recall of 3 words, calculation, backward digit span, memory of 5 objects and language fluency. The test yields the highest score of 30 points, and, in general, those who score 20 points or lower are identified as suspected patients with dementia.:

HDS-R 16About （As of March 2020）

Using long-term care insurance:

Visiting long-term care (checking medication) twice a week, visiting nursing care (checking physical condition, wiping and walking training) once a week, and visiting medical care once a month

Past experiences

2016年（80）

For my husband's illness and other reasons, I had several jobs, including ryotei (Japanese-style restaurant) and being an insurance agent, while raising my 2 children. Around the time I turned 80, I retired from a small specialty restaurant that I was running.
After that, I lived at home.

Diagnosis

2017年（82）

Family members noticed that I was becoming increasingly forgetful, for example, not being able to remember appointments for the next day. I was examined at a general hospital and diagnosed with Alzheimer's dementia.

2019年（84）

My family consulted the community comprehensive and obtained a long-term care insurance certification (long-term care level 1). Initially, the care plan included once-a-week day service and medication checks (by family members), but I gradually stopped using the day service.

2020年（85）

A change in long-term care insurance category (long-term care level 2). Family members began to strongly sense that I was forgetful and angry.
Changed to twice-weekly visiting long-term care (checking medication) and once-weekly visiting nursing care (checking physical condition, wiping and walking training).
I had been visiting a nearby general practitioner, but, upon the encouragement of my family and care manager, visiting nursing care was initiated. There have been no major changes since then. In addition to the long-term care insurance service, family members now visit twice a week to check my medication, see my condition and help me with household chores.
I enjoy living alone, occasionally visiting friends who I have known for a long time. I would like to continue living at home.
My family is concerned about my tendency to purchase the same items multiple times, my inability to organize my clothes, my forgetfulness of appointments and of taking medications. However, they are supporting my life at home by checking on me when they visit and by phone calls.

Past experiences

Joy in life and living

Challenges in daily living

Physical and mental dysfunctions

Message to the society