過疎山村における高齢者の生活行動 : 島根県瑞穂町の2集落を事例として
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概要
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Ageing in population is one of the most crucial issues in present Japan, especially in the depopulated areas such as Chugoku Mountains. However, rate of ageing is different from place to place and the problems they face are various. This paper aims to examine the daily-life behavior and its spatial patterns of elderly people in rather inconvenient and difficult condition in such areas. The author interviewed 41 elderly villagers at the selected two settlements, Yodohara-ichi close to the central village and Gokiya in peripheral area, in Mizuho-cho, Shimane Prefecture located in the heart of Chugoku Mountains, for a comparative analysis. The main results obtained are summarized as follows; 1) Most of the elderly people are mainly engaged in agriculture. They spend large part of time on watching TV, listening to the radio and reading in their dally activities. Therefore, their activities tend to take place within their own settlements. Some of them positively take part in social activities. Many social activities are carried out in the central village, and elderly people living near the central village and those who own cars or motorcycles in peripheral area are able to participate in their favorite social activities. However, elderly people without cars or motorcycles in peripheral area tend to take part in the social activities only when they can easily get transportation such as free buses. 2) Shopping of elderly people tends to depend strongly on the nearest shopping facilities. Men who can drive cars or motorcycles and women who live close to the central village frequently go shopping, while women in peripheral area do only occasionally, because they have to depend on poor bus services. In the latter case, they often use mobile shops which peddle close to their houses. 3) Similar to the shopping behavior, most of the elderly people use the nearest general practitioner for medical care. However, some of them visit hospitals located in other towns by car or bus for better medical treatments. Patients living far away from medical facilities receive periodic transportation services, usually once a week, provided by the municipal authority, which is very important not only in visiting doctors but also in shopping. Elderly people who live close to the general practitioner visit doctors more frequently than those who live away from them. On the other hand, the latter consult public health nurses more frequently than the former. 4) In depopulated mountain villages, people commonly move by car. Therefore, there is a strong spatial restriction for elderly people especially women without private transportation methods.
- 地理科学学会の論文