This study was conducted among the employers of private companies to examine what they consider　important for individuals with intellectual disabilities to continue working. Our findings revealed that they seek　continuous human support from employment support organizations. A survey was conducted to grasp the　employment retention and employment continuation conditions that both employers and supporters perceive to be　important and it emphasized on the understanding of disabilities and reasonable accommodation. Regarding　employment continuation, many employers emphasized interpersonal relationships other than work rather than　work attitudes and manners, which were underlined by supporters. Therefore, it is imperative that both 　mployers　and supporters use a common concept and common language so that the employment is not postponed without　adequate communication between them. Moreover, it is necessary to develop a framework for reviewing these　practices and verifying their effects.

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As the lack of nursery teachers is a chronic issue at nursery schools, the latent potential reinstatement of once displaced teachers is widely expected. For those who have once left to return, it is necessary to plement support that takes into account the circumstances of each individual. In this study, we conducted uestionnaires and interviews with 16 nursery teachers who have left but returned to work as nursery teachers about their reasons for leaving and motivations of returning. The verbatim transcript of the interview was analyzed using text mining, from which characteristic keywords were picked up. WordCloud was then generated using the keywords and term frequency–inverse document frequency (TF-IDF) method, where the individuality of each respondent emerged. In addition, by illustrating the keywords in a radar chart, the similarities and differences among the respondents were observed. It is shown that a two-dimensional plot may help to more explicitly visualize the correlations between respondents. However, the need for further elucidation of contextual analysis methods became apparent. Our study result indicates that by combining the knowledge of researchers with text mining method, the latent factors behind the reinstatement of the respondents could be uncovered.

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The purpose of this study is to examine the understanding of children’s food and effective methods of communication from the standpoints of nursery school teachers and parents based on a lunch intake survey of nursery school children, and to clarify future issues and support methods at nursery schools and at home. 70 public nursery school children and parents and 4 teachers in City A were surveyed. The children were asked to rate their food intake, the teachers were asked whether or not they had talked to the children and for their comments about school lunch. The parents were asked to write comments after implementation of the study. The teachers had many positive comments on the amount of food intake, and negative comments on the limited amount of time to eat. The parents also noted differences in the amount and content of food intake between home and nursery school,confirming the need for information sharing between the two. However, as the workload of teachers has increased over the years and parents have less time to get to know their children due to full-time employment, expectations have risen for the use of various means, such as ICT, to transmit the status of school lunch intake to parents and to receive communications from families.

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This paper examined the difficulties faced by the families of intellectually disabled persons in accepting social care, taking the thoughts of the mothers on short-term residential care as a guide. My survey found that most mothers understood the step-by-step process of using the short-term care placement. However, some mothers, despite understanding the transition to social care, did not use it because of their conflicting feelings about it. The phrase “sense of inferiority” was also extracted from mothers’ narratives. Mothers “hesitation to assert their rights” is not solely the result of individual circumstance or weak community support systems; a lack of social acceptance of disabilities acts as a barrier for the families of persons with intellectual disabilities to accept social care.

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This study aimed to clarify the roles required for school counselors. A survey was conducted on the roles required of the school counselors among teachers at 616 elementary, junior high, and high schools in the prefecture. The study listed 10 roles for school counselors and evaluated the effectiveness with which the roles work using three measures: “needed,” “valuable,” and “satisfied.” “The function score” of the school regarding the performance of school counselors was calculated as the average of the scores obtained from the three measures.The scores were then compared to identify any differences in perceptions of counselor performance among teachers. The result suggests that the roles of “counseling,” “cooperation with teachers,” “consultation,” and “response to developmental disabilities” received high scores across all types of schools. Additionally, the results showed that there were significant differences by school type in the scores for “emergency support,” “psychological examination,” “participation in school organization,” and “in-school training”. Furthermore, although high schools had higher scores overall, junior high schools scored the highest in “participation in school organization.”

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Quantitatively and qualitatively reserving good caretakers supporting the life of aged persons and disabled persons in need of care services is an issue of common concern shared by advanced countries facing the challenges of an aging population. To respond appropriately to diversified, complicated and sophisticated needs of persons requiring care services, the competencies required of caretakers are clearly identified. Consequently, it is mandatory to design training subjects which materialize and implement such competencies. This paper aims at clarifying and identifying the required competencies and the relevance between those competencies and training subjects by discussing the professional training system for social and health care helpers in Denmark, which is one of the advanced welfare states. According to documents and materials such as the “Order on professional training for social and health care helpers” (Order No. 535 of the Education and Quality Control Bureau) and the like, the job duties of social and health care helpers are independently providing basic and extensive care, personal care and practical support for persons in need and there are 13 competencies required of them including (1) for implementing, as professional social and health care helpers, their job duties independently and in cooperation with those from other fields in accordance with ethical and legal rules without disregarding the rights of persons in need and the responsibilities of specialists and authorized persons applied in the professional areas of social and health care helpers and (2) for responding to changes observed in the physical, psychological and social health conditions of persons in need independently and professionally including the use of tools for early detection. Therefore, it is evident that each competency is highly relevant to training subjects such as “Roles of social and health care helpers”, “Encounter with persons in need” and the like.

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A survey was conducted on mothers who send their children to a rehabilitation center in prefecture A,targeting mothers at the rehabilitation center regarding their concerns about child rearing and the actual situation regarding child rearing. The purpose of the survey was to clarify the background of the mothers’ awareness of child rearing and the actual status of the support system for child rearing. As a result, it became clear that dedicated support by rehabilitation providers and a well-developed support system in rehabilitation centers are important to improve the mothers’ awareness of child rearing. As a future issue, a survey on childcare support for rehabilitation workers will be conducted, and a comprehensive analysis of the findings and the mothers’ awareness of childcare will lead to the enhancement of the childcare support system in the rehabilitation centers.

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The spread of the novel coronavirus infection has had a significant impact on the prison population as well as the general public. To prevent the spread of infection, infection control measures restricted prison work, cooking, bathing, events, exercise, and visits. The purpose of this study was to determine the anxiety factors that infection control measures in the coronary disaster brought to male long-term inmates in correctional facilities. A survey was conducted from February to June 2022. The 108 subjects of the study (valid response rate 14.4%) had an average age of 48.0 ± 10.6 years and an average length of stay in the institution of 9.8 ± 9.1 years. Ninety-eight (90.7%) of them “understood the subject of their stress and anxiety.” In order to determine the effect of long-term prisoners’ greater stress on infection control, a multiple regression analysis was conducted with the dependent variable being the name of the crime. The results showed that inmates who had also lived in institutions and served longer sentences were significantly more anxious about infection for themselves and their families. The lack of information provided to inmates regarding the infection situation in the facility was also considered to be a factor contributing to their anxiety.

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A survey was conducted on directors or administrators of 40 facilities for mental disabilities in Prefecture A in order to examine the ideal state of the user-involved evaluation system, in which users of these facilities participate in the planning of activities and management of the facility. 35 facilities responded (Response rate was 87.5%). The survey results that users voices and opinions were reflected in planning and review of daily programs that are familiar to the users. It shows their participation in the process. On the other hand, it becomes clear that participation in annual planning, mid-to long-term planning, and facility management was low. In addition, it is suggested that the users participation in the facility evaluation leads to “new insights,” “enhanced quality of support,” “respect for opinions,” “impact on environment” and “changes in staff,” resulting in positive changes for the staff and the facility. It was also revealed that as difficulties in conducting facility evaluations with users: “difficulty in expressing the true feelings of the users,” “attacks on staff,” “need for individualized responses,” “impact on conditions and symptoms” and “changes in the relationship between users and the facility.”Through this survey, it was suggested that in order to promote the user-involved evaluation system, “recognition of fixed roles of users and staff,” “building collaborative relationships” and “awareness of power imbalance between users and staff” are necessary.

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The purpose of this study is to clarify the current state of cooperation and collaboration between local governments and social welfare councils, which are the main promoters of public and private cooperation as community welfare becomes a policy, and to examine the essential elements for the realization of a policy for a “community symbiotic society.” According to the results of a paper survey research by mail method conducted on 60 municipalities (70 organizations) in Fukuoka Prefecture, cooperation and collaboration between local governments and their social welfare councils were evaluated as being possible. The focus of the evaluation was the entrustment of projects. In addition, the answers obtained from the free descriptions on the matters essential for policy realization were analyzed and examined by the qualitative descriptive research method, classified into seven categories.

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This study aimed to examine the psychosomatic effects of the Integrated Functional Mineral Crystal (IFMC) coming into contact with the skin of care staff and the clothing-covered skin of elderly people requiring care. Parameters, including blood pressure and subjective symptoms, of twenty care staff members were investigated 1 week before and after wearing undergarments treated with the IFMC. The results showed a significant reduction in unpleasant subjective symptoms such as low back pain in 12 of 23 items representing psychosomatic symptoms. In addition, 23 elderly people requiring care were investigated using the double-blind method for parameters including salivary amylase activity, vital signs, and degree of discomfort 2 weeks before and after IFMC treatment of their wheelchairs. The results revealed significantly more stable blood pressure after IFMC treatment in the IFMC-treated group. However, no significant differences were seen in the other investigated items including neurological symptoms, trunk preservation, and state of swallowing and speech. The findings suggested that the effects of the IFMC are extremely small in situations where IFMC-treated products used come into contact with people with pathological aging through their clothes.

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This study aimed to clarify the function of independence support for persons who live alone and need mild nursing care. The persons who need nursing care can be classified as level 1 or 2; however, in this study, we referred to them as “mild persons,” as care managers perceive. We interviewed nine care managers of in-home nursing care offices in Tokyo and conducted a qualitative analysis. As a result, 23 codes were extracted and classified into five categories. Care managers consider the functions of independence support for people with mild disabilities who live alone to be: [continue to do what they can], [use of their strengths], [live in a suitable environment], and [decide and choose a way of life]. The main concern of “doing” was to support mental functions and “to continue living at home” was to support social functions. Therefore, the care manager develops care management based on a comprehensive concept that intertwines physical, mental, and social functions to provide user-centered support.

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The purpose of this study was to review the past literature on reality shock (hereinafter referred to as “RS”), identify the structure of RS and mitigation/avoidance strategies for nursing care workers based on a review of the literature, and examine the need for and significance of future research. Therefore, based on previous studies in the nursing care field as well as organizational behavior theory research and nursing literature on RS, we concluded that it is necessary to analyze the structure of RS among nursing care workers, which has not yet been clarified, and to examine how social support in the workplace influences RS avoidance and reduction.

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