Contents of Support Provided by Public Health Nurses to Needy Households in Adulthood

Abstract

Objectives: This study investigated the contents of support provided by public health nurses to needy households in adulthood.

Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with public health nurses (n=10) enrolled in cities with a population of 100,000 or more in a prefecture about the contents of support for needy households and analyzed the results qualitatively and inductively.

Results: We analyzed 16 cases narrated by 10 public health nurses and developed 9 support categories, including the following 3 core categories; (1) visiting households, caring for residents’ health and life, finding the residents’ needs and hints for supporting them, (2) managing needy households’ health and risks of illness, and (3) developing a diverse support team to maintain community life.

Discussion: The results suggested that public health nurses should care about residents’ health and life by visiting them, identifying their support needs, managing their health and risks of illness, and supporting residents in continuing community life by cooperating with them and developing support teams beyond organizational categories.