「かあさんの家」
Yoroku: A homely place of rest in life's final years
英訳 出典
人生の幕を閉じるとき、できれば自分が生きてきた所で穏やかに過ごしたい。
It's understandable that most of us would like to spend the rest of our lives peacefully in a familliar environment.
お年寄りの素朴な願いをかなえるため、市原美穂（いちはら・みほ）さんは９年前に宮崎市で「かあさんの家」を開設した。
家族だけで介護を続けるのが難しい人、福祉施設で受け入れてもらえない人など認知症や末期がんのお年寄りが暮らすホームホスピスだ。
Miho Ichihara opened a hospice in the city of Miyazaki in the Kyushu region nine years ago.
Called "Kaasan no Ie" (mother's home), the hospice accommodates elderly people suffering from dementia or terminal cancer, including those who have been turned away by welfare facilities or whose care is beyond their family's capacity.
普通の民家を改装し、家具はそのままにして家庭的な雰囲気を大事にする。
The private house-turned facility has a homely atmosphere with its original furniture in place.
５人のお年寄りを計５人のスタッフが昼夜交代で支えている
Five staff members take care of five in a combination of night and day shifts.
狭い病室で胃にチューブを通して栄養をとっていた人は、「かあさんの家」にやって来ると自分でチューブを取り外し口からご飯を食べるようになった。
One patient who used to be fed through a gastrostomy tube in a small hospital room removed the tube and started to eat by herself after coming to Kaasan no Ie.
暴れて看護師をたたいていた認知症の人は、別人のように優しい顔になった。
Another patient with dementia(認知症・ディメンシア） who used to run wild and beat nurses calmed down and acted like a completely different person after spending time at Kaasan no Ie.
＊＊＊
必要なのは医療ではなかったのか
Medical care, apparently, wasn't the sole remedy for these patients.
「かあさんの家」を訪ねると、認知症の女性が座って食事をしていた。
しゃがみ込んだ市原さんが顔を近づける。
穏やかな微笑が返ってきた。
When I visted Kaasan no Ie, I saw Ms. Ichihara crouched down and leaned over a woman with dementia, who was having a meal, and she returned a gentle smile.
台所からは包丁の音が聞こえ、夕餉（ゆうげ）のにおいがする。
The sounds and smell of someone preparing for dinner with a knife drifted in from the kitchen,
隣室でせき払いが聞こえる。Someone could be heard clearing their throat in the room next door.
どこにでもある暮らしだ
Life at the facility seemed normal.
＊＊＊
昔は多くの人が住み慣れた自宅で死を迎えていたが、今は約８割が病院で亡くなる。
At one time, many people passed away in their homes.
Today, about 80 percent of people die at hospitals.
死は医療現場で管理され、看取（みと）りの文化が暮らしから消えた。
Human deaths are handled by medical institutions, and the culture of attending someone's deathbed has disappeared from most people's lives.
だが、「かあさんの家」には各地からの見学者が絶えず、ホームホスピスは九州と関西で計１０カ所に増えた
However, there is an endless stream of visitors to Kaasan no Ie,
and the number of such hospices in the Kyushu and Kansai regions has increased to 10.
孫が吹くクラリネットに送られて逝った人がいる。
One elderly patient at Kaasan no Ie passed away while the patient's grandchild was playing the clarinet by their side.
家族に代わって介護はするが、最期は家族で迎えてほしいと市原さんは言う。安心して悔いなく看取れるよう、家族の気持ちに寄り添う。
Such hospices serve the role of accommodating family members so that they can attend their loved ones' deathbeds at ease, without regret.
Even though Kaasan no Ie provide care for patients on behalf of their family members, Ichihara hopes family members can be by the patients' sides in their final hours.
