Aim: The aim of this study was to clarify the newspaper article-extracted approaches to maintain social interactions in communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Yomiuri Shimbun articles were searched for in the Yomiuri Database Service using the following keywords connected with “and”: “COVID-19,” “community,” and “social connection.” In total, 49 articles were adopted for analysis. Contexts regarding the maintenance of social interactions in communities were extracted and encoded, and these codes were categorized based on similarities.

Results: The following two types of approaches to maintain social interactions in communities during the COVID-19 pandemic were identified: group meetings, such as <socializing outdoors> and <socializing indoors while adopting infection control measures>, and non-group meetings, such as <online face-to-face interactions>, <exchanging messages>, <sending messages>, <interactions through objects>, and <displaying people’s art content to induce social interaction in communities>.

Discussion: It is important to incorporate group meetings, depending on the infection situation; to view the COVID-19 epidemic as an opportunity to build new interactions; and to develop community interactions for health promotion.

Objective: The aim of this study was to clarify the relationship between social isolation, information and communication technology (ICT), and socializing among older men living in an urban area during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: An anonymous survey was conducted with 900 man participants aged 65–79 years. The survey items included ICT usage, socializing status, and social isolation. Binomial logistic regression analysis was conducted on two groups, which were established based on social isolation: non-social isolation and social isolation.

Results: A total of 442 responses were collected, of which 435 were valid. The factors significantly related to non-social isolation were frequency of telephone use (odds ratio [OR]=1.23), e-mail use (OR=1.19), and face-to-face conversations (OR=1.21). There was also “some association” (OR=4.16) and a “close association” (OR=4.80) with an “almost none” degree of neighborliness.

Discussion: The results indicated that face-to-face interactions with familiar people to feel connected and interactive communication via telephone and e-mail were effective in preventing social isolation among older men during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to verify the applicability of a coordination scale to three occupations that managed older adults with dementia. This scale was developed based on public health nurses’ experiences.

Methods: Our target was public health nurses, social workers, and senior long-term care support specialists in community general support centers. The questionnaire survey included personal attributes, a coordination scale, external standard scale, annual participation in community care meetings, and whether or not regional diagnoses were carried out. The study was conducted from October to November 2020.

Results: In total, 356 valid response surveys were obtained from 432 conducted surveys (valid response rate: 65.6%). Four factors comprising of 23 items were selected from 25 items based on the results and exploratory factor analysis. Cronbach’s α was 0.953 (sub-scales: 0.84–0.93). The validation assessment revealed a significant positive correlation among all of the items related to the external reference scale. Moreover, a significant difference was found between the two groups using the known group method.

Discussion: The reliability and validity of applying the scale to these three occupations were confirmed.

Background: For Japanese public health nurses, supporting foreign-born patients with tuberculosis (TB) still constitutes a challenge due to linguistic, cultural, and socio-economic barriers.

Aim: The aim of this study was to explore PHNs’ support and interventions in the Directly Observed Treatment Short course (DOTS) program for foreign-born patients with TB.

Methods: Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with seven public health nurses from different public health centers who executed DOTS with foreign-born patients with TB. A qualitative approach was used to analyze the data, describing the nurses’ experiences with the support provided through DOTS.

Results: At the beginning of the treatment, the public health nurses really struggled to overcome sociocultural barriers, understand their patients irrespective of the underlying cultural differences, and liaise with medical institutions based on the networks that the nurses had built. During the treatment period, in order to prevent the patients from discontinuing the course, the nurses catered to their cultural backgrounds to ensure firm adherence and actively sought extra help by collaborating with a supporter. They aimed to bridge the gap between patients and healthcare professionals and provide a better overall environment for the patients to continue treatment. Furthermore, for future patient support, the nurses identified community resources and health needs. Throughout the DOTS program, the nurses sought to work on their mutual understanding and gain mastery in overcoming linguistic barriers.

Conclusion: Interpersonal communication, sensitivity toward patients with socioeconomic difficulties and cultural differences, and effective collaboration with other formal and informal resources contribute greatly to the successful treatment of foreign-born patients with TB.