Objectives: This study aimed to clarify the competencies required for occupational health professionals in disaster management based on their personal experiences of workplaces damaged by the Kumamoto earthquakes.Methods: This study adopted a qualitative descriptive design using semi-structured interviews. The study participants included eight occupational health professionals who had been engaged in occupational health practice at workplaces affected by the Kumamoto earthquakes and subsequently employed at the same workplace. Data analyses were performed using a qualitative data analysis method.The researcher read transcripts of the interviews verbatim and extracted subcategories and categories, seeking points of commonality among homogeneous and heterogeneous elements while identifying content related to the competencies of the professionals during a disaster.Results: Nine categories and 29 subcategories were extracted. The following competencies were identified as skills required for occupational health professionals when a disaster occurred: "perceiving the essentials of the situation through a comprehensive understanding of the health impacts caused by disasters," "prioritizing tasks while appropriately understanding a situation that is changing over time,""starting from what one can do while ensuring one's own health and safety," "continuing occupational health practice by devising efficient approaches while flexibly responding to the situation," "creating an environment that enables each occupational health team member to fulfill their role," and "adjusting the positions of occupational health departments within organizations to utilize networks." The following competencies were identified as skills required for occupational health professionals' disaster response and preparedness: "having the essential personal qualities of occupational health professionals," "establishing relationships of trust with employees and companies," and "linking one's experience of a disaster to future occupational health practice." Conclusions:The competencies required for occupational health professionals in disaster management

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to develop a practical support tool to promote activities for balancing cancer treatment and work in small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and to evaluate its validity and feasibility. Methods: Based on good examples of the support at SMEs from our prior study, researchers discussed the basic structure and details of such a tool and developed its first version. The validity and feasibility were examined in a focus group interview with management experts and a mail survey to human resource (HR) managers in SMEs. The final version of the support tool was prepared based on their opinions. Results: The basic structure of the developed tool comprised two parts: an assessment part for self-checking the degree of balancing treatment and work and an information provision part offering an explanation of the assessment results and tips for improvement. We prepared 24 items for checking six fields that were strongly related to balance activities. Assessment results were displayed in a radar chart so that the strengths and weaknesses of one's own workplace could be visually determined at a glance. Management experts and HR managers evaluated this tool and found it easy to understand and useful. Conclusion: This tool seems to offer visible assessment of current activities for balancing cancer treatment and work and tips for improvement, resulting in increased motivation of employers and HR managers. We expect that this practical support tool will contribute to promote activities for balancing cancer treatment and work in many workplaces, including SMEs.

The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate the reliability and validity of employeesʼ own recognition and attitude scale regarding support for balancing medical treatment and work (treatment-work balance support) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).Based on a literature review on treatment-work balance support, and discussions among researchers familiar with SMEs, draft items were prepared and revised. A self-administered, anonymous questionnaire survey targeted employees of SMEs was conducted via paper or web. The questionnaire was distributed to 650 employees, and 420 valid responses with no missing values were analyzed. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were performed to extract factors; subsequently, the construct validity, concurrent validity, reliability, and model fit were examined. Three factors were extracted, and named as follows: "Employeesʼ own recognition of workplace initiatives for treatment-work balance support" (Factor 1, 9 items); "Employeesʼ own understanding of professionalsʼ roles in treatment-work balance support" (Factor 2, 5 items); and "Employeesʼ own attitude and self-efficacy regarding treatment-work balance support" (Factor 3, 6 items). The Cron-bachʼs alpha was 0.95, 0.94, and 0.87, respectively. Modified indices were checked to increase model fit in confirmatory factor analysis, and correlations between the variables were assumed. The final model fit indices were GFI＝0.86, AGFI＝0.81, CFI＝0.93, RMSEA＝0.09, AIC＝776.4. The first factor is considered to measure the extent to which employees themselves perceive that their workplace is implementing initiatives, such as establishing policies to treatment-work balance support, and instilling them in employees, while the other two factors are considered to measure employeesʼ understanding and attitude as a ripple effect, thus confirming the construct validity. Further, a significant positive correlation was found between the total score for treatment-work balance support and "psychological safety" or "work engagement," indicating the validity of the external criterion. By utilizing the scale developed in this study before and after the support, it will be possible to verify and visualize the effectiveness of treatment-work balance support in SMEs and identify effective support measures. This is expected to draw the interest and attention of SME employers and to promote the dissemination and implementation of support for treatment-work balance.

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Introduction: This study aims to clarify whether the competencies required of occupational health professionals for disaster management, identified from experiences in a single disaster, can be agreed upon by occupational health professionals with experience in other disaster responses. Methods: This study employed a quantitative study design using a questionnaire. The participants were occupational health professionals. The questionnaire included 29 competencies identified from the experiences of occupational health activities conducted during the Kumamoto earthquake. Items were rated from 1 (not necessary at all) to 5 (very necessary) by the participants. Exploratory factor analysis of the responses was performed. Result: The participants were 334 (29.9%), of which 97 (29.0%) answered that they had disaster response experience. Factor analysis was performed by setting three factors for 22 items. Factors 1, 2, and 3 were labeled "skills about coordinating within the organization," "practical ability to respond to changing situations," and "consistency as occupational health professionals," respectively. Discussion: In the event of a disaster, occupational health professionals are required to ensure their own safety, grasp the occupational health needs changing over time, and make decisions based on changing situations. The study suggests that a disaster response is a rare experience even for specialists in occupational health. To enable them to appropriately play their roles in occupational health response during disasters, a system of education aimed at maintaining coherence as the occupational health profession and demonstrating coordinating and practical skills in the event of a disaster should be established.