The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident in 2011 produced over 100000 evacuees. In order to deal with an increased need of mental health care, brief, transdiagnostic Telephonic Interventions (TI) have been provided for those at risk of different mental health problems identified based on results of the Mental Health and Lifestyle Survey (MHLS). This study aimed to examine usefulness of TI with focusing on evacuees’ subjective estimation assessed in individual follow-up interviews. The sample comprised 484 persons who had been evacuated from 13 municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture to 8 safer regions in and out of Fukushima. We conducted semi-structured interviews for participants receiving TI (intervention group) and those not receiving TI despite being identified as high risk (non-intervention group). The intervention group was older, had a higher proportion of self-reported mental illness, and higher unemployment compared with the non-intervention group. The satisfaction proportion of those who underwent TI was as high as 74.6%. Satisfaction was significantly associated with advance knowledge of TI availability (OR = 3.00, 95% CI: 1.59‐5.64), and advice on health-related practices (OR = 2.15, 95% CI: 1.12‐4.13). Thus, TI is considered to be feasible and useful for public health management practices in major disasters.

An interpretive qualitative study was conducted to examine public health nurses' (PHNs') practice in fostering citizen participation and collaborative practice and the impact of a decade (1992–2002) of health care restructuring. This article presents the perspectives of public health management and a public policy analysis as they relate to PHNs' primary health care practice in Nova Scotia, a province in Eastern Canada. Seven face-to-face interviews were conducted with public health management from across Nova Scotia and 26 relevant public policy documents were analyzed. Three major themes emerged from the coded transcripts and the document analysis: (1) opportunistic shifts in values: constraining structures, operations, and governance; (2) insufficient funding and infrastructure support; (3) opportunities and challenges to PHN capacity and competency. The emergent themes illustrate the unique population health perspective and day-to-day contested realities of public health and PHN practice. The study provides preliminary understanding of PHNs' primary health care practice in Nova Scotia that may resonate with other national and international settings. This knowledge can form a basis for more research to explore the PHNs' practice in the organizational context in which it is embedded. This study was undertaken at a pivotal time in Nova Scotia as the provincial government embarked on primary health care renewal to improve the health of Nova Scotians. The success of this study is in large part attributable to the collaborative effort of university researchers and public health decision makers.