Purpose: To clarify variables affecting emotions related to hearing in home-dwelling elderly people, and to clarify the effects of those emotions on mental health.

Methods: Subjects responded to a questionnaire and were tested for the ability to hear 40 dB of 1000 Hz and 2000 Hz in both ears with pure-tone audiometry.

Results: Factor analysis (maximum likelihood method, promax rotation) of “feelings about hearing” was conducted with 72 subjects. Decreased self-esteem in social life was identified as the first factor, and Negative feelings toward oneself as the second factor. Variables for which a relationship was seen with the first factor, Decreased self-esteem in social life, were “ear disease,” “being told by others that one is hard of hearing,” “experience using a hearing aid,” and “hearing self-assessment.” Variables for which a relationship was seen with the second factor, Negative feelings toward oneself, were “gender” and “ear disease.” It was then shown that people with strong feelings of Decreased self-esteem in social settings had lower mental health.

Conclusion: These findings suggest the need to take individual measures in arranging the living environment and aiding hearing to avoid a loss of self-esteem in home-dwelling elderly people.

Purpose: To clarify what actual caring activities nurses carry out when they visit schoolchildren with severe disabilities in the continuous maintenance period at home and their families

Method: Using the research method of ethnonursing participant observation and semi-structured interviews with the children and their family, 13 in total, and six nurses were conducted.

Results: Four sub-themes and one main theme were identified. In the main theme, nurses described their practice as "backroom work" meaning that they "support, from behind the scenes, the body of a child in the direction that the child and the family want to go." It became clear that their practical activities involved two roles: to provide care in a direct manner for assisting the child to demonstrate his/her strengths that become apparent as the child grows; and to provide indirect care by not interfering but watching over the actions chosen by the child and the family.

Conclusion: This study identified two roles of nurses together with their actual practices: that of directly developing children’s ability to grow by actively recognizing and fostering their strengths, and to carefully assess the child and quietly watch any actions of the child and the family even without the need to consult with the family. Specific practical activities as the basis for such roles were identified at the same time.

Objective: To compare the levels of disaster preparedness of the Nankai Trough, disaster-affected, and overall areas of Japan from the viewpoint of visiting nurses.

Methods: An original self-administered questionnaire was created, and it was mailed to home-visit nursing facilities throughout Japan after being approved by an ethics committee. The obtained data were analyzed using a statistical method.

Results: A total of 322 visiting nurses responded to the questionnaire. All of the 3 areas were well-prepared for disaster management, such as the <provision of guidance on the management of medical devices during a power outage> and <creation of user lists>, but preparation for <evacuation drills> tended to be delayed. As a characteristic of the Nankai Trough area, measures to be implemented through multi-professional collaboration were being actively proceeded with.

Conclusion: It may be necessary for visiting nurses to lead each area to establish evacuation support systems, simulate and practice evacuation through collaboration with evacuation supporters, and develop safe and efficient evacuation methods.