This research aimed to systematically organize guidance and operational methods for health workshop using hot springs and to clarify problems based on actual cases.
Participants in the workshop were solicited among women of middle and advanced ages who lived in the Kitamimaki village of Nagano Prefecture and received scheduled health evaluations. The health workshop, once a week for 12 weeks, combined guidance on lifestyle and physical exercise (about one hour: guidance on stretching, walking, light sports, and proper eating) with bathing after the guidance (about one hour: hot spring with sodium-containing chlorides). Furthermore, self-monitoring was included in the program to stimulate the participants to changes in lifestyle. Particular attention was paid to safety because this workshop was for women of middle and advanced ages.
The practice of the workshop programs to provide specific guidance in addition to knowledge and information is considered an effective way for the participants to establish and maintain desirable life habits after the completion of the workshop. Utilization of a “hot spring” is also considered effective for prompting them to participate in the workshop.
“Health workshop using hot spring” was carried out for women of middle and advanced ages, and it was able to prompt them in the direction of desirable life habits. In addition, the participants expressed the view that it was a good trigger for awareness on nursing care and illness prevention.
The following were problems of the workshop: (1) It was a complex program that could be carried out only by a complete staff with expert knowledge and skills; in the foreseeable future it could not be easily practiced by other facilities and local governments; (2) a desire to invest in health for “protecting one's own health” should be questioned and established when the participation fee is collected; and (3) a follow-up system should be established for participants who dropped out halfway through the program.
