On-site training program for public health nurses in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan: Effects on risk communication competencies

Abstract

After the Fukushima disaster, healthcare professionals were expected to function as risk communicators to the public. The purpose of this study was to explore whether there were associations between a set of risk communication competencies and having attended any of the on-site workshops that were conducted over eight years since the Fukushima disaster as part of an in-service training program for Fukushima's public health nurses (PHNs). A survey was conducted by mail from August 20 to October 8, 2019, involving 754 PHNs in Fukushima Prefecture using an anonymous self-administered questionnaire. The survey's valid response rate was 81.3% (613 responses). Respondents were asked to rate themselves on seven risk communication competencies (increasing residents' health knowledge, tailoring communication to residents' satisfaction, responding to residents' concerns, alleviating residents' distress, building trust, supporting health-related behavioral change, and supporting health-related self-efficacy) and on two items related to change in professional perspective after the Fukushima disaster (acquisition of specialized knowledge and skills and heightened professional awareness). Participation in a health literacy workshop significantly predicted four of the risk communication competencies, namely, responding to residents' concerns (OR = 1.49 (95% CI: 1.01–2.21)), alleviating residents' distress (1.65 (1.12–2.44)), building trust (1.90 (1.27–2.83)), supporting health-related self-efficacy (1.50 (1.02–2.20)), and the two changes in professional perspective, acquisition of specialized knowledge and skills (1.74 (1.15–2.62)) and heightened professional awareness (1.62 (1.09–2.43)). The study suggested that the health literacy on-site workshops had multifaceted effects in enhancing the risk communication competencies of healthcare professionals since the Fukushima disaster.