Research on Home Care Nursing in Japan Using Geographic Information Systems: A Literature Review

Given Japan's super-ageing society and its need for developing community-based integrated care system, the role of home care nursing is becoming increasingly important. A central concern in home care nursing is regional/spatial placement of home nursing stations and accessibility for patients. Analysis based on geographic information systems (GIS) may be useful in home care nursing research. We conducted a literature review of home care nursing research based on GIS in Japan. A total of 4 articles were selected following a search of medical literature databases. The first report was published in 2014. Most subjects in the identified studies were older people. Most studies were implemented at a municipal level. Key themes in the identified studies were "placement of specialists and home nursing stations" and "placement of home nursing stations and target patients." Despite the paucity of research, as all identified studies examined the community areas with an aged population, it may point to the need to consider community-based integrated care systems, including home care nursing, in Japan. More GIS-based research on home care nursing is called for.