2016 Volume 19 Issue 3 Pages 50-59
The purpose of this study was to elucidate the conditions needed to improve the skills of health guidance for lifestyle related disease prevention in municipalities. The conditions has been decided what health guidance practitioners should do and the organizations where they belong to.
The research participants were fifteen people who worked in seven cities based on recommendations from prefectures undertaking organizational initiatives to improve skills in health guidance. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in each municipality. Interviews included the implementation of a system for health guidance, and measures taken during OJT to improve health guidance skills, Comprehensive summaries were made from the verbatim records, and were organized based on the practices of the health guidance practitioners and the organizational systems which were required to promote the efforts of the health guidance practitioners. Categories were made homogeneously.
For health guidance practitioners to perform their duties, four conditions were identified which include ‘Being conscious of the program’s precise objective for health guidance’. Regarding the organizational system, three conditions were clarified: ‘Mutual support in the practice of health guidance aiming toward the result’; ‘Guarantee of learning time and the opportunity for skills improvement on the basis of practices’; and ‘Building the foundation of the organization for the improvement of health guidance skills’.
The following organizational conditions are necessary for promoting learning by experience of the health guidance practitioners. They include securing a budget, making conditions to functionalize OJT, making and updating manuals and records, and creating learning systems for new practitioners.
