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Effectiveness of an Intervention Program to Enhance the Self-Confidence of Kindergarten Teachers Dealing with Radiation-Related Health Concerns from Parents of Young Children: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2024

Nobuaki Moriyama*
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan
Chihiro Nakayama
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan
Kiyotaka Watanabe
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Teikyo University, Tokyo, Japan
Tomomi Kuga
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan
Seiji Yasumura
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan
*
Corresponding author: Nobuaki Moriyama; Email: moriyama@fmu.ac.jp

Abstract

Objective:

This study examined the effectiveness of an intervention program to enhance the self-confidence of kindergarten teachers who address radiation-related health concerns among parents following the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in March 2011, wherein radiation anxiety among mothers with young children was high. Kindergarten teachers are expected to address the concerns of these parents

Methods:

Participants from 2 private kindergartens in Fukushima City were assigned to either the intervention group (n = 10), which received an intervention program comprising lectures, group discussions, and presentations, or the control group (n = 16), which received only written materials used in the intervention program. Changes in the measured scores post-intervention were calculated, and the mean values were compared between both groups using the Student’s t-test.

Results:

The primary outcome was self-confidence, and the difference-in-differences approach was used to assess the effectiveness of the intervention program. The study found a more significant difference between pre- and post-intervention self-confidence in the intervention group compared to the control group (P < 0.01).

Conclusions:

The intervention program effectively enhanced the self-confidence of kindergarten teachers in dealing with radiation-related health concerns of parents with young children.

Type
Original Research
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc

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