[Support provided by public health nurses to adolescents with pervasive developmental disorders and their families]

The objective of this study was to describe the process of support provided by public health nurses (PHNs) to adolescents with pervasive developmental disorders. The support given to the families of these adolescents was also examined.

The subjects in the study were PHNs with at least a 10-year experience at a public health center, who had been engaged in providing continuous support to adolescents with pervasive developmental disorders and their families. The patients investigated included young people in their adolescence who were diagnosed by psychiatrists as having pervasive developmental disorders (ICD.10: F84), including doubtful cases. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and the data were analyzed using the Modified Grounded Theory Approach.

The subjects included 10 female PHNs with 10-28 years of work experience. The number of patients supported by the PHNs was 10, with their ages ranging from 22 to 37 years. The analysis included 14 categories derived from 38 concepts. The categories for the support process provided by the PHNs for these adolescents with pervasive developmental disorders and their families included "generating trust," "thinking together during times of trouble," "weighing the difficulties in daily life and the influence of personal characteristics," "deepening the understanding of the patient's characteristics," "confronting difficulties in decision making," "identifying timing and intervention," "trying to live by themselves in the community," "promoting conversations using easy-to-understand communication," "enhancing self-understanding," "providing support for self-decisions and coping behaviors," "using and developing resources available in the community," "collaboration and coordination for responding to trouble," and "building a community in which it is easy to live."

While supporting these adolescents and their families, the PHNs could increase their understanding of the person's characteristics as well as trust. They also continued trying to make communication easier and supported the family's coping behaviors, as well as collaborated with the people concerned to meet their needs and build a community in which it was easy to live. These findings suggest that it is necessary for PHNs to have an active role during their working life in order to promote a support network and system for the whole community. This will require the PHNs to consider measures that meet the person's characteristics and to establish coping mechanisms for the various problems that adolescent with developmental disorders and their families may encounter.