[An evaluation of the attitudes and productivity of public health nurses in mental health service programs for the elderly].
The relationship between productivity of public health nurses (PHN) employed in mental health programs including home visit service for elderly people with dementia, and their attitudes toward mental health services was studied by surveying PHN at 31 health centers (HC) in Osaka Prefecture. A review of the services provided for 382 clients with dementia visited during a one-year period showed that PHN had provided the following services: home health care education: family education to promote understanding of the disease; management of interpersonal relations in the family; intervention to reduce the burden placed on the family members; medical facility referral; social service resource referral. For each of these PHN-provided services, the service had been provided to more than 60% of the clients. The percentage of clients who had been visited by a PHN accompanying a psychiatrist or a social worker was significantly higher at the 13 HC where PHN attach importance to counseling programs for the elderly, the 8 HC which provide group work services, and the 13 HC which hold case conferences more than six times a year than at other HC. In addition, the service provision rates for many PHN-provided services were significantly higher for these HC than for other HC. Analysis on the basis of whether PHN did or did not attach importance to the counseling program, showed that in either group, clients who had been visited by a PHN accompanying a psychiatrist or a social worker were more likely to have received PHN-provided services than other clients. Furthermore, at HC where PHN actively participated in mental health programs, PHN attitudes toward mental health care were more enthusiastic than at other HC. These results indicate that increased productivity of PHN employed in mental health programs and promotion of a multidisciplinary approach in client services are correlated with each other, and that both factors contribute to improving the quality of home visit services provided by PHN.
Kuroda
K
K
Osaka University Medical School, Department of Public Health.
Takatorige
T
T
Tatara
K
K
Honjo
M
M
Harada
K
K
Naya
A
A
Tokito
K
K
Matsutani
M
M
Hokimoto
M
M
Okada
K
K
D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D004526:Efficiency; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006299:Health Services for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology*; D011637:Public Health Nursing