Developing a scale for Japanese public health nurses supporting resident groups toward community-building

Objective: This study developed a scale for public health nurses supporting resident groups toward community-building and verified its reliability and validity. Design and Sample: In this cross-sectional investigation, self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 1,924 public health nurses in Japanese municipalities. Measurements: The questionnaire included items on the public health nurses’ demographic attributes, the developmental stage of the resident groups they supported, a draft scale, and an external criterion. Reliability was verified by calculating the alpha coefficient and test-retest reliability. To clarify construct validity, we conducted exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Results: We analyzed 570 questionnaires. The scale was structured using 30 items covering four factors: “Creating opportunities to connect with community residents, other groups, and governments,” “Stimulating activities by improving organizational capacity,” “Promoting stable organizational management,” and “Providing opportunities to review community health issues and activities.” The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for this scale was 0.944. The intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.923 using test-retest relativity. Correlations were noted for criterion-related validity (r = 0.388, p <.01). Confirmatory factor analysis with structural equation modeling revealed a reasonable fit to the data. Conclusions: The scale for public health nurses supporting resident groups toward community-building was confirmed to be reliable and valid.