This paper examines the factors associated with the reluctance of self-employed contractors in the construction industry to undergo asbestos medical checkup services, using the Health Belief Model.

Utilizing data from 104 contractors, the research identifies both facilitating and inhibiting factors for seeking medical checkups. Facilitating factors include the “frequency of psychosocial problems (treatment and medical conditions)” and “known disease name.” Inhibiting factors include the “frequency of psychosocial problems (family relationships)” and “perceived symptoms.”

The study finds that anxiety about the onset of disease is influenced by the contractors’ experiences working in environments with asbestos dust. The lower uptake rate is attributed to a lack of awareness about asbestos exposure and its serious health consequences, the perceived burden of visiting medical checkup facilities, and the negative impact on family relationships, which are seen as more significant than the benefits of undergoing medical checkups. The study suggests that social work interventions should focus on increasing awareness about asbestos exposure, educating about the severity of asbestos-related diseases, addressing life challenges, and creating policies equivalent to those in labor law to encourage medical checkups.

The purpose of this study is to clarify the origins of social workers and medical social workers based on historical facts.

In Japanese social work literature, the origin of social workers is often traced to the friendly visitors associated with the Charity Organization Society (C. O. S.), founded in London in 1869. Similarly, the origin of medical social workers is commonly linked to the role of Almoner, first introduced at the Royal Free Hospital in London in 1895.

However, in the literature on the history of social work and medical history in the United Kingdom and the United States, there is no description of the origin of social workers and medical social workers as in Japan.

Therefore, it is necessary to reconsider the conventional understanding of the origin of social workers and medical social workers in Japan by re-examining the historical evidence.

This study aimed to identify the types of social support (SS) required for children whose mothers have schizophrenia, focusing on four dimensions: informational, instrumental, evaluative, and emotional. A qualitative synthesis of interviews with adults who had early carer experiences in childhood revealed that challenges such as “enduring unsolvable situations” and “self-sacrificing to support their mothers” stemmed from inadequate SS. Informational SS involves access to accurate information about schizophrenia, available social resources, and improved competence among supporters. Instrumental SS includes comprehensive life support, including home nursing, household assistance, and financial aid, along with systemic improvements in community and government services and collaboration with schools. Evaluative and emotional SS on “interactions with understanding individuals” that help enhance self-esteem and provide safe spaces for children to reinterpret their past ― leading to the realization that “they do not have to support their mothers alone.” These findings underscore the need to build comprehensive ongoing support systems tailored to individual needs. Further research is required to explore the transformative experiences of children who choose to share stories about their mothers.

Focusing on the temperamental characteristics of medical social workers (MSWs), we used the concept of sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) to qualitatively investigate the differences in work burden and coping strategies based on SPS levels. The study involved 20 MSWs, and their SPS levels were evaluated using the Japanese version of the Highly Sensitive Person Scale.

The results indicated that MSWs with high SPS did merely internalize external stimuli as a sense of burden, but also expressed this burden to family members and trusted colleagues, and took appropriate actions to manage it. In contrast, MSWs with low SPS tended to externalize the sense of burden onto others and while managing it internally.

As for self-care, MSWs with high SPS were evaluated as being able positively reframe their sensitivity, incorporate their experiences into theoretical understanding, and gain new knowledge through training sessions. MSWs with low SPS, on the other hand, were evaluated as capable of introspecting on instances where they were forced to behave against their intentions, and to organize their thoughts by reassessing their relationships with superiors and colleagues and leveraging their own networks.