Development Process of Kaigokan Among Japanese Students Studying Caregiving in A Four-Year College Degree Course: A Longitudinal Study

Care Work Course, Department of Rehabilitation, Faculty of Health Sciences, Nihon Fukushi University

*Corresponding author: Hideko Fujiwara, 26-2 Higashihaemi, Handa, Aichi 475-0012, Japan, Tel. No.: 81-569-20-0118, E-mail: [email protected] 

Received Date: August 06, 2022 

Published Date: August 30, 2022

Citation: Fujiwara H, et al. (2022). Development Process of Kaigokan Among Japanese Students Studying Caregiving in A Four-Year College Degree Course: A Longitudinal Study. Mathews J Nurs. 4(2):7.

Copyright: Fujiwara H, et al. © (2022). 

ABSTRACT

Objective: This study conducted a longitudinal survey of students studying caregiving through a certified care worker program at a four-year college to clarify the development process of kaigokan. Method: Participants were 23 students enrolled in the care worker program at Nihon Fukushi University. A questionnaire was administered five times to observe changes in kaigokan during a four-year period. Text mining was used to obtain factors concerning caregiving from free response data. Participants’ outlook on caregiving was compared and examined each academic year, based on the categories extracted from the co-occurrence network. Results: In the first year, a foundational perspective on caregiving was cultivated through on-campus learning. In the second year, students had first-hand experience of their practicums, leading to knowledge and skills integration, and started to develop kaigokan through reflection. In the third year, an ethical perspective was incorporated. In the fourth year, students, as caregiving professionals, cultivated a perspective of providing support that meets care users’ needs. Conclusion: Recognizing their kaigokan in the second year led to its further structuring in the third and fourth years. This is extremely important for the quality of the students’ education and caregiving.

Keywords: kaigokan, development process, longitudinal study, certified care workers, four-year college students, text mining.