A study on the educational significance of special needs education in basis PHN education - 1st report

Background For public health nurses to support school-aged children with disabilities who live in the community, it is necessary to understand the mechanism of special needs education and learn the inter-professional collaboration that takes place in it. A survey was conducted on school teachers supporting school-aged children with special needs, and the perception of educational significance in basic PHN education and its related factors were examined. Methods In December 2019, a survey questionnaire was sent to all 1,052 special needs schools in Japan. Of the 350 respondents, 330 valid replies were analyzed. Regarding the significance of providing special needs education in basic PHN education, we asked for answers on a four-point scale from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree” and scored 4 to 1 points. Then, unpaired t-tests were performed between every two groups of “school-targeted type of disabilities,” “respondent's position,” and “respondent's perception/experience.” In addition, Pearson's correlation coefficient test was performed on the relationship with the years of teacher experience in special needs schools. Results Perception of the significance of providing education was as follows: “school-targeted type of disabilities” refers to school groups with hearing impairments (p < 0.05), “respondent's position” groups are special needs education coordinators (p < 0.05), “respondent's perception/experience” was significantly higher in the group with a high cognition of PHN work (p < 0.05) and in the group with experience of cooperating with PHN (p < 0.001). However, there was no significant correlation with the years of teacher experience in special needs schools. Conclusions There was a high perception of the significance of providing education in school groups with hearing impairment and groups with actual coordination experience, especially where early detection and care were particularly required, regardless of years of teacher experience. Key messages Special needs education should be included in basic PHN education to promote inter-professional collaboration for improving QOL of school-age children with disabilities living in communities. To foster the foundation for promoting special needs education in basic PHN education, in-service PHNs need to work closely with schools to meet their expectations for PHNs.