Objectives: This research aimed to identify civil servant fathers who parent and provide other forms of childcare for preschoolers, and the factors related to this experience.
Methods: The research sample comprised fathers of preschool children who were engaged in full-time civil servant clerical work. Data were gathered from self-reports via anonymous questionnaires, which included items on individual characteristics and lifestyles, information about fathers who parent and provide other forms of childcare, and their workplace environments. The related factors were analyzed using a t-test, ANOVA, and multiple regression analysis.
Results: Of the 414 individuals who received the questionnaire, 346 completed it (effective answer rate=83.6%). The average parenting father score was 20.8±7.6 (max 40 points). The fathers who parented while working as civil servants were strongly influenced by their working spouses, working hours, and number of preschoolers in the house. Fathers’ intentions to utilize childcare support systems were high, although the actual use of these systems, apart from childbirth leave for prospective fathers, was low.
Conclusions: It is important, in promoting fathers as primary childcare providers, to provide them with paternity leave, even if only for a brief period. It is also important that fathers acquire timely paternity leave, given the high likelihood of the father deciding to actively parent if given such an opportunity. Accumulating fathers’ experiences of using childcare support systems might advance an understanding of their parenting, especially in relation to the workplace, and this would further promote fathers’ parenting abilities.

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Objectives: The objective of this study was to perform an outcome evaluation focused on the long-term effects of care prevention programs for frail elderly by comparing frail elderly certified as requiring long-term care in a particular municipality.
Methods: The target population of this study was 1,936 frail elderly residents of Kitakyushu City, who were candidates for 4 types of care prevention programs in Fukuoka Prefecture during the fiscal year 2007. We examined whether the elderly residents qualified for a Certification of Needed Long-Term Care between April 2007 and March 2013. A Cox proportional hazards model was applied to calculate hazard ratios (HR).
Results: Overall, 53.3% of the residents in the participant group were certified as requiring long-term care, while this figure was 38.8% for the non-participant group. The non-participant group was not more likely to be certified as requiring long-term care than the participant group (HR: 0.74, 95% CI: 0.61–0.90).
Conclusions: Although the results revealed that participating in the care prevention programs did not work to prevent new cases of long-term care need, they provided suggestions about the methods of its detailed evaluation and indicated that programs need additional support after the program.

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Objective: The aim of this study was to clarify the perceptions of public health nurses regarding the need for support for school-age children with developmental disabilities.
Methods: A self-administered, written questionnaire was conducted with public health nurses employed by local municipalities. Respondents who replied “yes” to the question, “Do you think it is necessary for public health nurses to provide support for school age children with developmental disabilities?”, were asked to give a reason why in their own words; the free responses of 85 respondents who answered “yes” were subsequently analyzed using a qualitative inductive method.
Results: As context for the need to provide support for school-age children with developmental disabilities, public health nurses recognized that “new needs emerge during the school-age period,” “support from people outside school is necessary,” and “coordinated multi-professional support is necessary.” Public health nurses aimed to provide support to “help the development of the child by supporting parents and families,” and “guarantee successful development in the community.”
Conclusion: This study suggested the need for support for school-age children with developmental disabilities by public health nurses, with a special focus on a long-term perspective to guarantee that children with developmental disabilities can grow up successfully in their communities.

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Aim: This study aims to clarify the drinking situation among underage university students and identify the associations of drinking behavior with friendship relations and personality traits.
Methods: For the study, an anonymous self-reported questionnaire was administered to fourth-year freshmen (N=1122) from three universities in Prefecture A. The drinking situation was analyzed using descriptive statistics, and the associations of drinking behavior with friendship relations and personality traits were analyzed by using the chi-square test.
Results: A total of 998 (89%) questionnaires were completed accurately. However, only 395 of these were used for the analysis; in other words, a minority of the students were surveyed. The survey revealed that 234 (59.2%) students consumed alcohol and 87 (22%) had consumed >20 g of pure alcohol as junior and senior high school students. In addition, 312 (79.3%) students responded that drinking consolidates human relations and 209 (54.2%) thought that people should drink only after turning 20 years old. Departmental and club activities, awareness of the effects of drinking, and extroversion were revealed as significant factors associated with drinking behavior.
Conclusion: Friendship relations do not show a significant association with drinking behavior among underage university students. However, extroversion showed a significant association with drinking behavior. Therefore, extroverted students should be targeted when taking measures for drinking among underage university students.

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Purpose: To identify methods for promoting social participation among middle-aged adults in the community, we conducted research on the relationship between the elements of social capital of middle-aged people and a sense of co-living in the community.
Methods: We mailed an anonymous questionnaire to 1,020 Japanese in their 40s and 50s living in the city Y in Japan’s A prefecture.
Results: We chose 295 valid responses as the subjects of our study. The study compared three elements of social capital and found correlations between “trust” and an “association.” The sub-elements of social capital that affected a sense of co-living in the community were “general trust,” “relationships in the neighborhood,” and “frequency of association with a coworker” (F(3.260)=51.77; p<0.01).
Conclusion: Our findings revealed that there was no relation between “social participation” and the elements of social capital of middle-aged people, while there was a correlation between “trust” and an “association.” However, because of the observed relation between a sense of co-living in the community and “relationships in the neighborhood,” we suggest that supporting social participation at a place familiar to them is an effective method to promote social participation of middle-aged people.

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Purpose: The purpose of this study was to interpret the self-report accounts of municipal employees about the body recovery and management work and related feelings impressed upon them six months after the tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake through a qualitative descriptive study.
Method: We individually interviewed 23 municipal employees on the situation they faced in the wake of the disaster and the things that left the most profound impression on them.
Results: Of the 262 coded responses on the emergency tasks performed by the municipal employees, only 21 were related to the work. Three kinds of body recovery and management work were recounted, such as transport for about one month, placement for about two months, and burial and cremation of bodies for about three months following the disaster. The feelings about each work were, sequentially “Beyond recollection/Hopeless,” “Spiritually attacked/Hurts,” and “Perplexity due to paralysis of function.”
Conclusion: Employees talked about resourceful acts in detail and expanded upon prospects for future initiatives for emergency shelters and aid deliveries, whereas the work was described only in a piecemeal manner and with hesitation. The body recovery and management work were grim tasks unfamiliar to these municipal employees, who were obliged to perform them without any preparation. We now need to deepen our understanding of such situations, which can occur in emergencies, if we are to prepare for such eventualities.

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Purpose: This article aims to clarify how a preceptor responds to novice public health nurses.
Methods: A semi-structured interview was conducted with preceptors in a certain city and the acquired data were qualitatively and descriptively analyzed.
Results: Responses were received from 12 preceptors. Preceptor’s support was classified into 18 subcategories and aggregated into the following five categories: developing a trusting relationship between a preceptor and a public health nurse, providing a public health nurse a sense of security at work, helping a public health nurse grow as a member of society, helping a public health nurse grow as a professional, and organizing an educational system for novice public health nurses.
Conclusion: It was suggested that preceptors helped novice public health nurses grow as members of society and professionals through dialogue based on a mutually trusting relationship. It is considered that it is not only necessary to promote and fulfill the preceptorship, but also to develop an on-the-job training program to enhance preceptors’ expertise in their own initiative.

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Purpose: To clarify the characteristics and related factors of mothers assessed as at high risk for child abuse after childbirth by public health nurses.
Methods: We analyzed 49 maternal and child health consultation documents that were recorded in city A in 2014. The data included the patient's basic attributes, family-related factors, preparation made during maternity, health- and life-related issues, and the need for support, all of which assessed by public health nurses. We performed t-tests, chi-square tests, and Fisher’s exact tests to clarify the characteristics and related factors that influence mothers who would be at high risk for child abuse after childbirth.
Results: A total of 27 mothers were found to be at low risk for child abuse (55.1%), and 22 were considered to be at high risk for child abuse (44.9%). There were significant between-group differences in the percentages of mothers who had unscheduled prenatal check-ups, unprepared hospitalization reservations, poor knowledge about maternal preparation, a possibility of worsening chronic diseases, and who required encouragement from public health nurses to make a clinic visit.
Conclusions: The results suggested that public health nurses should provide support for undergoing regular prenatal check-ups and the psychophysical condition of pregnant women at high risk for child abuse after childbirth.

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