Workforce re-entry for Japanese unemployed dental hygienists
- 27 August 2014
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in International Journal of Dental Hygiene
- Vol. 13 (1), 74-78
- https://doi.org/10.1111/idh.12101
Abstract
The aim of this study was to define the profile of unemployed dental hygienists who could be enticed to re-enter the workforce and the factors that could facilitate their re-entry into the dental field in Japan. The questionnaire was mailed with a postage-paid return envelope to a sample of 3095 licensed dental hygienists. A 50.4% response rate (S = 1477) was observed. The rate of working dental hygienists was 60.3% (n = 891), and of unemployed dental hygienists was 39.7% (n = 586). Of the latter, 31.9% (n = 187) stated intentions of returning to the workplace. The unemployed dental hygienists seeking employment were more often married and had more children, compared with working dental hygienists currently. This group also had significantly fewer total service years. Moreover, only 11.96% of them belonged to the Japan Dental Hygienists' Association, and 41.3% of those attended training workshops. According to their response, they perceived their top three major barriers to re-entry as 'lack sufficient dental hygiene skill', 'child rearing' and 'poor working atmosphere'. 'Flexibility in the work schedule' and 'location' were the most important factors for re-entry from their perspective. There were not many dental hygienists hoping to return to the dental field. The findings suggested that strategies to encourage non-practicing dental hygienists to re-entry should be emphasized in the areas of a flexible working atmosphere, easy access to information on how to return to practice and guidance on how to maintain professionalism during inactivity.Keywords
Funding Information
- the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan.
This publication has 12 references indexed in Scilit:
- Dental hygienists in The Netherlands: the past, present and futureInternational Journal of Dental Hygiene, 2012
- Prevention of aspiration pneumonia (AP) with oral careArchives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 2011
- A discourse on dental hygiene education in CanadaInternational Journal of Dental Hygiene, 2010
- Attitudes and perceptions towards oral hygiene tasks among geriatric nursing home staffInternational Journal of Dental Hygiene, 2010
- Learning climate in dental hygiene education: a longitudinal case study of a Japanese and Canadian programmeInternational Journal of Dental Hygiene, 2010
- Dental hygienists in Europe: trends towards harmonization of education and practice since 2003International Journal of Dental Hygiene, 2009
- Perceptions of Japanese and Canadian dental hygiene students towards their professionInternational Journal of Dental Hygiene, 2009
- A survey of dental hygienist numbers in Canada, the European Economic area, Japan and the United States of America in 1998British Dental Journal, 2003
- Oral Care Reduces Pneumonia in Older Patients in Nursing HomesJournal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2002
- Oral hygiene reduces respiratory infections in elderly bed-bound nursing home patientsArchives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 1996