A caregiving method developed in France for people with dementia is growing in popularity among nursing homes in Japan, where drastic improvements in the condition of both residents and staff have been reported.

Humanitude, which focuses on respecting each person's dignity and independence, is considered effective in developing a smooth relationship between people working at welfare facilities as well as improving patients' emotional conditions.

With its name deriving from "human" and "attitude," humanitude was developed more than 30 years ago by Yves Gineste, who taught physical education, and his colleagues based on the philosophy of "what is humanity."

The method, introduced in Japan around 2012, calls for caregivers to keep looking into the eyes of patients, speak to them gently, and not to grasp their arms or feet tightly, so as to build trust with them.

Humanitude was originally designed for professional nurses to help patients stand on their feet and prevent them from being bedridden. But it has also been proven effective in alleviating the psychological burden of nurses.

In Japan, Miwako Honda, a doctor at the Tokyo Medical Center, is leading the campaign to spread the approach throughout Japan's nursing care community.

At the center, one of the hospitals promoting the humanitude method in Japan, her team conducted a field survey in Fukuoka, western Japan, in the fiscal year through March 2017, covering 148 people who were taking care of their elderly family members with dementia at home.

As part of her survey, Honda held a two-hour training session for those surveyed to help deepen their understanding of the humanitude method. Even after the session, she kept offering nursing advice backed by the approach to them in a postcard sent every week for the following three months.

Among the tips provided by Honda were making sure to knock on the door to let patients know that their caregivers are coming in and approaching them from the front to avoid startling them.

Honda, a leading advocate of humanitude in Japan, tracked the caregivers who took part in the session. The subsequent survey found caregivers felt less stress after attending to patients with gentleness and kindness based on the humanitude approach.

Meanwhile, it was found that the patients who received welfare support under the new approach acted less violently and wandered around less frequently. Their verbal outbursts also lessened.

Yasunori Shimojima, 72, is taking care of his 66-year-old wife with dementia at their home.

After attending the humanitude session, Shimojima tried to speak to her as softly as possible. Recently, she started to let him do whatever is necessary for her, according to Shimojima. "I am happy and feel relieved," he said.

Makoto Yamamoto, a 49-year-old worker at a welfare facility operator, is caring for his mother-in-law, who has dementia. He said she has become emotionally stable recently.

Every morning, Yamamoto holds his mother-in-law's hand and says to her smilingly, "Please take care of yourself while I'm out for work." His mother-in-law has become calmer recently. Yamamoto said she had previously been confrontational at times.

Nursing staff at hospitals and care facilities acknowledged humanitude has changed their own behavior both toward patients and staff.

At Midori no Sato, a nursing home in Yokohama, southwest of Tokyo, the humanitude method was applied to a man in his 90s who had rejected nursing support. Six month later, staff attending the man had become more active and committed to his recreational activities and walking excises.

"Work morale must have heightened among staff members after they faced residents more seriously," said a senior official of the care home.

Saki Ishikawa, a 28-year-old nurse who teaches humanitude, said

she had been inward-looking and struggled to build personal relations with other people. But the method taught her to become more outgoing and enjoy time spent with colleagues.

"I was able to change myself in the process of learning the humanitude method as a communication skill," she said.