Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop a social capital scale for use in the field of local public health, and to measure its reliability and validity.

Methods: We developed a set of 42 scale items based on an interview survey among 13 public health nurses and 13 local citizens from 5 municipalities. Then we conducted a preliminary questionnaire survey among 199 chief public health nursing officers, and the main questionnaire survey among 1000 citizens in 4 cities and towns by distributing and collecting self-administrative questionnaire by post.

Results: We excluded 12 items after performing item analysis, and attained optimal solution for 5 factors and 20 items as a result of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. We named the factors as follows: “mutual trust and support among locals”, “friends sharing the same goals”, “affinity with local professionals”, “connections based on living in the same area”, and “relations with neighbors”. Cronbach’s alpha was 0.92, and the correlation coefficient for association with other scales measuring related concepts was 0.4–0.6.

Conclusion: The social capital scale developed within this research was found to have a certain degree of reliability and validity.

Objective: The objective of this research is to identify varying demands for drug abuse prevention education among college students according to the degree of students’ drug use risk. Such insight will further inform the design of drug abuse prevention education for college students in the future.

Methods: A cross-sectional, self-administered survey targeting sophomore students at 17 colleges and universities in Japan. The final analysis included 1,477 survey responses.

Results: The survey found that overall college students’ interest in and motivation for drug abuse prevention education was low. The preferred method of education was one-time group lecture delivered by an external speaker during class period right after they start their freshman year. The analysis also demonstrates, however, that the students’ drug use risk influenced their educational needs. Those who reported past drug use in the survey were more likely to prefer more in-depth drug use prevention education.

Conclusion: In designing drug abuse prevention education for college students, combining a lecture to raise all students’ interest level (population approach) and a more flexible program tailored to students’ needs (risk approach) may be effective. In a flexible program the mode and the frequency of education can be adjusted according to students’ motivation and awareness. One example could be an elective class offered by faculty who are familiar with the student body in which discussion and other elements of active learning can be incorporated.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate education contents by skill achievement levels of student nurses according to public health nurses before and after education system improvement of public health nursing.

Methods: An anonymous self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted on public health nurses who taught student nurses in 2013 and 2015 in special wards of Tokyo. The surveyed public health centers or departments were 86 facilities in 2013 and 78 facilities in 2015, and the survey was performed in the public health nurse of each facility. Public health nursing curriculums of all universities were integrated courses until 2013; 10 out of 14 universities were an elective course in 2015. Question items were skill achievement levels at the time of graduation, age, years of work experience, job title, the number of public health nurses, period of practice, and the number of student nurses.

Results: There were 49 responses in 2013, and 35 responses were analyzed. The percentage of 24 skill achievement items in 2015 was significantly higher than in 2013.

Discussion: 40% of the total skill achievement items of increased, and there was not items which decreased. These results suggest that the teaching effectiveness was obtained as an evaluation of the public health nurses after education system improvement.

Objective: To determine the association between the municipal public health nurses’ awareness of support of persons with mental disorders and the actual mental health welfare services provided by the municipalities.

Methods: A self-administered paper survey was conducted with 550 the municipal public health nurses in July and August 2013.

Results: We received 205 valid responses (response rate 37.3%). “Regular consultation services,” “Daycare services,” and “Occasional consultation services” were provided by 73.7%, 49.8%, and 96–100% of the municipalities, respectively. At least 90% of the municipal public health nurses thought that “support of the disabled is important” and “should be provided.” At least 60% thought it is a rewarding job. However, only 50% or less were conscious of a public health nurse-specific approach for this job.

Discussion: It was speculated that a public health nurse-specific approach has not fully penetrated the field of mental health. On the other hand, this suggests that the awareness of such support might increase through regular opportunities to contact persons requiring support. It was thought that accumulation of experience encouraged public health nurses to engage in their job proactively, and enhanced mental health welfare services provided by municipalities.

Aim: WE described the process of action research using the method of community meeting (abbreviated as CM) for child care support, and evaluated from the viewpoint of fostering social capital (abbreviated as SC).

In this report, we would like to contribute to improving the method of support for the promotion of residents’ activities.

Method: We investigated parenting awareness and conducted a preparatory CM in district A (population of 3,400 people). The CM was organized by residents, government officials, and universities, and participants received questionnaires and were interviewed.

Results: At the CM, participants highlighted the need for a place where social exchange was possible for children and mothers. Based on the results, methods to create such a platform were considered and suggestions were put forward to realize such a platform. After the CM, people belonging to various organizations worked together to establish a child-rearing park. In the questionnaires, 70% of participants responded that they could express their opinions at the CM. In an interview conducted one year later, participants said that the CM was an opportunity to deepen community ties.

Conclusion: The CM led to an understanding of child-care needs and the steps necessary for satisfying these needs. In addition, participants felt that community ties had deepened after the CM. Based on these findings, this study found that the CM freely promotes the development of bridge-type social capital as an association of organizations in order to contribute to the strengthening of the child-care system in district A.

Purpose: To accurately detect and provide early support to infants with developmental concerns, the present study aimed to evaluate the characteristics of the 18-month check-up for infants in need of support based on the results of their 3-year check-up. We also analyzed effective interview items for infants and their guardians.

Methods: We analyzed 55 questionnaire items associated with development in 385 infants who underwent both the 18-month check-up and 3-year check-up at city A between the fiscal years 2010 and 2013.

Results: A total of 6.8 % infants showed no problems at the 18-month check-up but required a follow-up after the 3-year check-up, whereas 17.8% infants required a follow-up after the 18-month check-up but completed the 3-year check-up without any problem. We divided the subjects into four groups according to whether they completed the interview items and whether they required a follow-up. We found that none of the items were considered to be oversights, and 7 items were thought to result in false concerns, including “moving constantly” and “concern about meals.”

Discussion: We believe that the interview items in the 18-month check-up enabled consistent assessment without any oversights. However, questions should be devised and incorporated for items thought to result in false concerns, and these items should be validated against other interview items, along with the observation of children and parent(s) during future health check-ups.