Journal of the National Institute of Public Health
Online ISSN : 2432-0722
Print ISSN : 1347-6459
ISSN-L : 1347-6459
Current issue
Direction of the "Dental and Oral Health Promotion Plan" and the discussion in relation to the achievement of its objectives
Displaying 1-8 of 8 articles from this issue
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  • Article type: Preface
    2024 Volume 73 Issue 5 Pages 339
    Published: December 26, 2024
    Released on J-STAGE: January 07, 2025
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • Hideki FUKUDA
    Article type: Review
    2024 Volume 73 Issue 5 Pages 340-349
    Published: December 26, 2024
    Released on J-STAGE: January 07, 2025
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS FULL-TEXT HTML

    The Basic Matters of the Dental and Oral Health Promotion Act (second phase), otherwise known as the “Dental and Oral Health Promotion Plan,” was launched in 2024. It was created in close conjunction with Health Japan 21 (third phase), which launched that same year. These initiatives have three common goals: (1) to reduce the number of people with periodontal disease, (2) to increase the number of people who have good chewing abilities, and (3) to increase the number of people who have regular dental check-ups. The Grand Design, which explains the framework of the Dental and Oral Health Promotion Plan, has a three-tiered structure, with the lowest tier being the development of the social environment necessary to promote dental and oral health. In this study, we focused on this to achieve the common goals of Health Japan 21 (third phrase). We also examined the importance of the organizational structure of local governments, which are the main stakeholders in dental and oral health projects, based on the results of the au- thor's health and labor research

  • Ken OSAKA
    Article type: Review
    2024 Volume 73 Issue 5 Pages 350-358
    Published: December 26, 2024
    Released on J-STAGE: January 07, 2025
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS FULL-TEXT HTML

    To promote evidence-based health practices, scientific methods were discussed based on insights obtained from existing cohort studies and medical receipt data, both domestically and internationally. Examples from the United States' Healthy People 2030 and the United Kingdom were introduced, and verification methods for creating evidence related to dental check-ups and examinations were summarized. While randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are desirable as evidence, it is not always possible to evaluate everything. Therefore, comprehensive analyses of data and evidence from large-scale cohort studies that have been conducted to date are necessary, along with some analysis through simulations. It is expected that these methods will facilitate an evaluation of the effects on disease reduction and improvement in quality of life (QOL), as well as the impact on healthcare costs. A dental health policy based on these findings is desired.

  • Jun AIDA, Satomi SHIMADA, Sayo MASUKO
    Article type: Review
    2024 Volume 73 Issue 5 Pages 359-368
    Published: December 26, 2024
    Released on J-STAGE: January 07, 2025
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS FULL-TEXT HTML

    Japan's national health policy, “Health Japan 21” is a program that sets target indicators and strives for their achievement. Starting from fiscal year 2024, “Health Japan 21 (Phase 3)” and its counterparts in the dental field, the revised “Basic Matters on the Promotion of Dental and Oral Health” and “Oral Health Promotion Plan” have commenced. These policies incorporate the concept of social determinants of health, setting the extension of healthy life expectancy and the reduction of health inequalities as their highest-level objectives, while taking into account the social environment. Logic models have been developed which hierarchically present the relative positions of individual measures and health goals. Furthermore, an action plan has been introduced, which categorizes the measures based on their nature and effectiveness. This action plan emphasizes not only traditional health education, but also more practical measures that consider the impact of the social environment, such as policies aimed at improving the environment and changing incentives or defaults. It is crucial, however, to carefully consider which measures may reduce or exacerbate health inequalities. For example, in health education and check-up programs, individuals with higher health awareness tend to participate more, while those at higher risk do not, presenting the challenge of the so-called “inverse care (prevention) law.” Thus, a “proportionate universalism” approach, which is a population strategy aimed at reducing health inequities, is required. In the dental field, school-based fluoride mouth rinsing programs have been identified as an effective proportionate universalism approach. The implementation of individual measures necessitates the use of the PDCA cycle (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle. In utilizing the PDCA cycle, rather than setting target indicators that are difficult to improve in the short term, such as the percentage of individuals retaining 20 or more teeth at age 80, the recent trend is to focus on utilizing outputs and intermediate outcomes that provide more visible evidence of progress regarding execution and improvement. Lastly, an excessive focus on target indicators alone may overlook certain trends, such as an increase in individuals with fewer teeth due to aging, and the high dental treatment needs for dental caries and periodontal disease compared to other conditions. As in the broader medical field and in line with international trends, such as the WHO resolution on oral health, Japan's dental sector must recognize the limitations of target indicators and also consider other indicators, when necessary.

  • Hirofumi NINOMIYA, Koji KASAMATSU, Tetsunori OZAKI
    Article type: Review
    2024 Volume 73 Issue 5 Pages 369-376
    Published: December 26, 2024
    Released on J-STAGE: January 07, 2025
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    Since fiscal 2008, Minato-City in Tokyo has been conducting the “Oral Health Checkup” project with an emphasis on dental health guidance, in order to support the oral health management of city residents. In fiscal 2022, a total of 26,941 persons took the checkup, which was the highest number ever. Minato-City outsources the checkups to the Shiba Dental Association and the Azabu-Akasaka Dental Association of Minato-City, Tokyo, and has established a system in which the checkups can be taken at approximately 250 dental clinics in the city. This paper reports on the dental checkup project, which has been carried out in close collaboration with the local government, dental associations, universities, and other experts for 15 years since the project began, and which aims to improve the dental health behavior of residents.

  • Hiroko MIURA, Yukie MURATA
    Article type: Review
    2024 Volume 73 Issue 5 Pages 377-383
    Published: December 26, 2024
    Released on J-STAGE: January 07, 2025
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    In promoting oral health in older adults, satisfactory oral function is directly related to dietary habits and significantly impacts overall health. In particular, mastication is a typical oral function, and targets have been set in “Health Japan 21 (3rd term)” and the “Oral Health Promotion Plan.” On the other hand, the oral functions of older adults have been addressed in policy since the concept of oral frailty was proposed in March 2015. Unfortunately, the academic definition of oral frailty continued to remain ununified for some time. However, in April 2024, three relevant academic societies released a unified definition of “oral frailty” for the first time. Accordingly, this article describes the current status of masticatory assessment in official documents, and summarizes the changes in oral health measures for older adults related to oral function, leading to the new definition of oral frailty. In addition, the applicability of the OF-5, an oral frailty assessment tool, to community oral health interventions for older adults is discussed.

  • Rumi TANO, Hiroko MIURA, Yoh TAMAKI, Hideki FUKUDA
    Article type: Review
    2024 Volume 73 Issue 5 Pages 384-390
    Published: December 26, 2024
    Released on J-STAGE: January 07, 2025
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS FULL-TEXT HTML

    The Basic Matters (Secondary) of the Dental and Oral Health Promotion Plan regarding the promotion of dental and oral health in 2023 were formulated based on the results of the final evaluation of the Basic Matters (First Phase) in 2022. In the Dental and Oral Health Promotion Plan, important matters included in Part 5 of the Basic Matters (First Phase) were addressed separately, while Part 4, “Matters related to securing and developing human resources responsible for dental and oral health care” was newly established. These matters specified the need “for the Japanese government to work to enhance training that focuses on developing skills required for comprehensive planning and coordination in order to secure human resources and improve their quality, and for prefectural governments to cooperate with municipalities, health insurers, local dental and medical associations, and other relevant organizations to improve training based on the latest scientific knowledge.” The National Institute of Public Health of Japan has set itself the goal of developing the ability to formu- late plans tailored to local circumstances and to review plans based on evaluations, and is carrying out train- ing in planning, managing, and evaluating dental and oral health promotion for local government employees who are involved in local dental health care. This paper provides an overview of the current state of human development training at the National Institute of Public Health in relation to the development of human resources that are responsible for dental and oral health care, which received special attention in the Basic Matters, while taking into account past achievements.

Article
  • Issui MANABE, Shogo HIHARA, Kazuyoshi MIZUSAKI, Kohei KAMBARA, Takashi ...
    Article type: Practice Report
    2024 Volume 73 Issue 5 Pages 391-400
    Published: December 26, 2024
    Released on J-STAGE: January 07, 2025
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS FULL-TEXT HTML

    Pandemic of emerging infectious diseases can affect students' mental health. In stress management education as part of students' support, understanding stress responses and motivating coping mechanisms are considered effective. However, only a few studies exist on stress management education during emerging infectious diseases, particularly on improvement mechanisms for students' mental health. In this study, we provided stress management education online during the COVID-19 pandemic to students enrolled in the National Institute of Technology and analyzed their responses to the questionnaire through structural equation modeling. The results revealed that in Model 1 (understanding stress responses will affect students' mental health through mediate motivation for coping behavior) showed a better goodness of fit than Model 2 (understanding stress responses and motivation for coping behavior will affect students mental health independently). The results suggest the importance of educating by associating stress responses and coping behavior, and not independently educating stress responses and coping behavior.

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