Objectives　The purpose of this study was to determine the change in the certification rate for long-term care (LTC) in the municipalities affected by the heavy rain disaster in July 2018, and to clarify the relationships between the change in the LTC certification rate and the damage situation and regional characteristics.

Methods　The subjects were 108 municipalities to which the Disaster Relief Act was applied. Interrupted time series analyses were conducted of the monthly LTC certification rate for a total of 37 months from July 2016 to July 2019, and the changes in the LTC, mild LTC (requiring support 1 and 2), moderate LTC (requiring long-term care 1 to 3), and severe LTC (requiring long-term care 4 and 5) certification rates after the disaster were determined. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were performed to clarify the relationship between trends of changes in the LTC certification rate after the disaster, the damage situation (number of damaged houses, number of dead and missing), and the regional characteristics (population rate of people aged 65 and over, population density, taxable income, population per public health nurse, capacity of long-term care insurance facilities, number of hospital beds, number of clinics, specific health examination implementation rate, and specific health guidance implementation rate).

Results　The LTC and mild LTC certification rates showed significant increases in the month of the disaster and changes in trends after the disaster. The change in the post-disaster trend of the moderate LTC certification rate was significantly lower. The severe LTC certification rate showed a significant increase only in the month of the disaster; however, there was no significant change seen in the post-disaster trend. The downward change in the trend of the moderate LTC certification rate was negatively related to the population rate of people aged 65 and over, and positively related to the number of clinics. No significant associations of the LTC, mild LTC, and severe LTC certification rates with any of the variables related to the disaster situation and regional characteristics were found.

Conclusion　The results of this study suggest that the demand for long-term care insurance services may increase as a result of disasters experienced by elderly requiring mild LTC certification who have a relatively high degree of independence.

Objectives　This study aimed to 1) determine what kind of care for children with disabilities is related to the mothers’ sleep and mental well-being and 2) objectively measure the sleep state of mothers responsible for children with disabilities.

Methods　A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 180 mothers of children enrolled in the Special Needs Education School in prefecture A. Amongst these, nine who provided consent underwent objective sleep measurements using actigraphy. The questionnaire investigated the lifestyle and the type of care needed for children with disabilities and their influence on the mothers. Subjective sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index) and mental well-being status (General Health Questionnaire) of the mothers were also evaluated. Logistic regression analysis was performed to analyze the background factors affecting sleep quality and mental health.

Results　Of the 180 participants, 84 (46.7%) provided valid responses. Fifty-two (64.2%) and 34 (42.0%) individuals subjectively reported poor sleep quality and poor mental well-being, respectively. Mothers having responsibilities of oxygen therapy and night care reported significantly poor sleep quality and mental well-being. Moreover, objective sleep measurements showed that the changes in the child's physical condition, such as ventilator management, epileptic seizures, and fever, resulted in prolonged waking times and affected the sleep efficiency of the mother.

Conclusion　Responsibilities toward providing oxygen therapy and night care for their children with disabilities influenced the sleep quality and mental well-being of the mothers. Thus, it is important to provide support to mothers caring such disabled children.

Objectives　We examined the relationships between the development of severe mental distress among mothers of young children during COVID-19 and the related factors including difficulties in raising child, concerns about child's development, social support, and capacity to receive support using comparable pre-COVID-19 baseline data. Severe mental distress was defined by a score of K6≧10 on the Psychological Distress Scale.

Methods　We conducted a baseline survey in February 2020 and obtained responses from 4,700 mothers of young children. A follow-up survey was conducted in June 2020. We obtained responses from 2,489 participants of the original group. The K6 scores (four groups) of two surveys were compared. Thereafter, 521 participants who had severe mental distress at the baseline were excluded, and 1,968 participants were included in the Poisson regression analysis. We adjusted for maternal age, education, marital and employment status, household income, children's age, number of children, and changes during COVID-19 pandemic. The adjusted incident rate ratios (IRRs) were estimated using K6≧10 at follow-up as the dependent variable, and the independent variables were having difficulty in raising a child, concerns about child's development, social support, and capacity to receive support.

Results　At the baseline, 20.9% of mothers had severe mental distress. At follow-up, this value increased significantly to 25.3%. Mothers who developed severe mental distress by the time of the follow-up survey were 333 (16.9%), and they were more likely to have had difficulty in raising their child, concerns about child's development, lower levels of positive attitudes toward receiving support (capacity to receive support), and lower levels of social support.

Conclusions　The mental health of mothers caring for young children worsened during the COVID-19 outbreak. Factors related to the development of severe mental distress included having difficulty in raising a child, concerns about child's development, and lower levels of positive attitudes toward receiving support (capacity to receive support) and lower levels of social support. Providing parenting support, consultation and rehabilitation, and exploring approaches to enhance capacity for receiving support are required.

Objective　Although volunteer activities of providing meals have been conducted as measures to prevent isolation and loneliness and to secure meals, evidence is lacking regarding how to implement such activities. In this study, we describe the activities process at a community cafeteria located within a housing complex and operated by resident volunteers during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide inexpensive meals. We also report the preliminary results of the impact of such activities on the residents.

Method　This case study was conducted at the community cafeteria Tate Kitchen ‘Sakura’ located within a Tokyo housing complex with a high ageing population. We collected data on the cafeteria activities during February to May, 2020. The data sources were daily activity records of the cafeteria, dialogues between volunteers and residents, and photos of activities. We qualitatively assessed the effects of the activities on the residents by classifying interviews with ten users and six volunteer staff based on the Kawakita Jiro (KJ) method.

Results　During the observation period, regular meetings were held among board members and volunteers, and operations of the cafeteria were verified and modified by referring to the COVID-19 prevention guide for citizens, advice from health professionals, and residents’ opinions. It was determined that activities would continue without cessation; the cafeteria, managed mainly by volunteers under the food hygiene control system required for commercial restaurants, was open five days a week to maintain food security and ensure the health of the residents. The number of meals sold at the cafeteria was halved in May (n = 2,149) as a result of the modification in operations. However, the number of meals delivered to each household increased from March because of increased demand. Qualitative analyses using KJ method showed that users perceived that these continued activities were effective in securing food, maintaining social interaction and promoting health, and health promotion, while volunteers perceived that the activities were effective in promoting social interaction and health.

Conclusion　The resident volunteers continually confirmed their commitment to the principle of protecting food security and health within the community. They continued to operate the cafeteria by referring to available information on COVID-19 preventive measures, adopting the COVID-19 preventive measures, and involving all stakeholders. Qualitative analyses suggested that these continued efforts were useful for securing food and supporting health of the residents, looking after one other, and maintaining ties among residents.

Objectives　The purpose of this study was to make clear the descriptive epidemiology and the relationship between the room temperature of living room, bedroom, dressing room, and outdoor during winter, based on the climate areas in Japan.

Methods　This study targeted 3,781 people, survey for 5 years from 2014, based on the Smart Wellness Housing (SWH) project, which was carried out nationwide with the support of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. During winter, we recorded the outdoor temperature and living room, bedroom, and dressing room temperatures at 1 m above the floor and near the floor for two weeks. Covariance structure analyses were used to clarify the relationship between room temperature and outdoor temperature based on six climate areas in Japan. The analyses were performed using SPSS22.0 and AMOS22.0 for Windows.

Results　The temperature near the floor inside the house was lower than the room temperature at 1 m above the floor, and both the room and near the floor temperature in the morning tended to be the lowest. The temperature disparity between the dressing room and living room was the largest. Based on climate areas, the room temperature in the Area 2 was the highest, while the room temperature in the Area 4 was the lowest. The outdoor temperature was more closely associated with the room temperature near the floor than the room temperature at 1 m above the floor, especially in the southern Areas, except Area 7.

Conclusion　The temperature near the floor inside the house was lower than room temperature at 1 m above the floor. The temperature disparity between dressing room and living room was the largest. The room temperature and near the floor temperature were lowest in the energy-saving Area 4. The outdoor temperature was more closely associated with the room temperature near the floor than the room temperature at 1 m above the floor, especially in the southern Areas, except Area 7.