Abstract

Purpose: To clarify the meaning of relocation among aging Hansen’s disease survivors; to discuss care aiming to manage the negative effects of relocation and promote adaptation to new dwellings.
Methods: 1) Participants: Hansen’s disease survivors who intended to move house within B sanatorium in Japan. 2) Data collection methods: Semi-structured interviews. 3) Data analysis: Qualitative and inductive analysis.
Results: Five categories of meaning regarding relocation were extracted from survivors’ responses: 1. The burden of relocation after the community’s power of mutual aid and mobility had failed due to aging; 2. The burden of creating new strategies to live with multiple severe sequelae in a new environment; 3. Displeasure at the disruption of routines; 4. Dissatisfaction with the decision-making process regarding structuring the building and rooms’ layout; 5. Thinking positively to accept moving house and enjoying the new environment.
Conclusion: The following points are important: 1) Patients’ living environment can affect both the occurrence and management of Hansen’s disease sequelae; 2) Hansen’s disease survivors have multiple requirements of their living environment in order to manage multiple severe sequelae; 3) Patients who have lost their sight create mental maps of their living environment; relocation entails the loss of these maps.