Factors Associated with Prenatal Smoking Cessation Interventions among Public Health Nurses in Japan.

This study aimed to identify the factors associated with prenatal smoking cessation interventions based on the 5As model among public health nurses (PHNs) in Japan. A nationwide cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2019 to February 2020 via a self-administered questionnaire. The study subjects were 1988 PHNs working in 431 health centers of municipalities and special wards across the country. Of the 1988 questionnaires mailed, 521 responses (26.2%) were included in the analysis. Of the 521 responses, most of the respondents were female (98.1%) and the mean age was 37.5 years. There were statistically significant differences on age, work regions, experience years working as a PHN and smoking cessation training after becoming a PHN in implementing the 5As. Self-efficacy, professional development competency, research utilization competency, age and experience years working as a PHN were positively associated with the 5As. Social nicotine dependence was negatively associated with the 5As. Furthermore, self-efficacy mediated the relationship between the 5As and professional development competency, research utilization competency, social nicotine dependence, age and experience years working as a PHN. In the future, smoking cessation intervention training should be widely implemented to improve self-efficacy and prenatal smoking cessation interventions among Japanese PHNs.

Effectiveness of simulation learning program for mastering public health nursing skills to enhance strength of community: A quasi-experimental design.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to develop a simulation learning program for mastering public health nursing skills to enhance strength of community, and to verify its effectiveness. METHODS: The program is one-day session to master the skills from three exercises. This study adopts a quasi-experimental design. We selected unbiased 34 participants in intervention group and 30 participants in control group, and conducted self-administered questionnaire surveys at three points in time: pre, post 1 and post 2. Three tools were used to measure the required outcome. For the outcome evaluation, we calculated the changes in the mean value of each tool between pre and post 1 and between pre and post 2, and compared them between the two groups. RESULTS: The change of intervention group in the total score at the post 1 stage from the pre stage was significantly higher than control group regarding each of the scales (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: The program was found to be effective in upgrading the skills of less-experienced public health nurses to enhance strength of community.

The status and future directions of comprehensive tobacco control policies for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games: A review.

INTRODUCTION: This review aims to clarify the status and future directions of comprehensive tobacco control policies for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games based on a comparison with seventeen countries that hosted the Olympic Games. METHODS: Seventeen countries that hosted the Olympic Games from 1988 to 2018 were identified by searching the website of IOC. A comparison of the contents was carried out by six themes (Monitor, Protect, Offer, Warn, Enforcement and Raise) in accordance with the MPOWER package for implementation of the FCTC. The comparison items and data were obtained from Global Health Observatory (GHO) data, Japanese government websites, and the literature. Based on the MPOWER scale, the 17 countries were ranked by total score, and a correlation between smoking prevalence and MPOWER total scores was established. RESULTS: The following three results were clarified: 1) Compared to the 17 countries that hosted the Olympic Games, smoking prevalence in Japan at 22.5% is at a moderate level and male smoking prevalence (33.7%) is still higher than other developed countries such as UK (24.7%) and Australia (16.5%); 2) Japanese tobacco control policies were far behind other countries that hosted the Olympic Games, especially in protecting people from tobacco smoke, warning about the dangers of tobacco, anti-tobacco mass media campaigns and enforcing bans on tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship; and 3) The better practice in MPOWER was able to reduce total and male smoking prevalence in the study countries. CONCLUSIONS: Japanese tobacco control policies are far behind other countries that hosted the Olympic Games. In order to successfully hold the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, it will be necessary to strengthen tobacco control policies, based on the FCTC, in the future.