Abstract
Purpose : The Purpose of this study is to develop a guideline for community inspection as a way to gather first-hand information about the community as a client for public health nursing activities. In addition, the validity of this guideline is examined. Method : The developed "Guideline for Community Inspection" was based on the elements of the windshield survey by Anderson and MacFarlane and modified to be more suitable for the Japanese community. the guideline consists of 15 elements and their examples and explanations. Using this guideline, 7 research assistants conducted a community inspection in a rural area of Japan and asked the public health nurses in that area to assess the validity of the recorded information. Furthermore, the public health nurses were asked to evaluate whether the elements were sufficient or not and to give their evaluation of the overall assessment and any comments for the improvement of the guideline. Results : The total number of the information items observed with the guideline and recorded was 298, and more than 90% of them were evaluated to be valid by the area public health nurses. In cases when the recorded information was not valid or insufficient, it was mainly because of misunderstanding of the assessed area or shortness of the survey period. The evaluation of the overall assessment was relatively high, and public health nurses commented,that using the guideline seemed to help understand the atmosphere of the assessed area. Conclusion : Although there are still some aspects remained to be improved, this guideline is considered to be useful for community inspection.
