Effectiveness of the Use of Case Studies with a New Report Format for Improving Public Health Nurses’Home Visiting Skills for Mental Health Services

Abstract

For the purpose of improving home visiting skills for mental health services, a new report format was developed. This study was designed to examine the effectiveness of the new report format through the use of case study sessions.

Four case study sessions were implemented with the new report format, which is composed of six factors and 36 items of home visiting skills. The“Public Health Nurses’Home Visiting Skills for Mental Health Services”were used for evaluation on a scale of one to four（1-4 points for each item）．

The evaluation scores all significantly improved after each case study session compared to those before the session. The scores improved by 12.6 points from the beginning of entire case study session until the end（p<0.05）．Of all the home visiting factors,“Determining Needs”and“Understanding Family Relationships”were most significantly improved（p<0.05）．Although not so significant, the other four factors, including“Managing the Home Visiting”were also improved.

The case study sessions with the new report formats was proven to be effective for improving home visiting skills for mental health services.