Guided Discussion and Activities in English for Future Health Professionals: Relationships between Nursing and Community Design

Recent interest in community design has become evident in medical circles. Relationships between a community’s design, its function, and citizens’ health are an increasing concern for people who care about the quality of human life. Among these people, an influential group is health professionals. They can play a great part in how a community can be constructed or (re)designed to afford better living conditions in society. To develop a sense of the importance of involvement in community planning and clarify the health needs of citizens, and to rethink ideas about responsibilities of health professionals, medical education should provide classes, seminars, lectures and activities to give students chances to explore possibilities of direct involvement for creating a healthy community. At the Tottori University Faculty of Medicine, a seminar was held for 3rd-year nursing students and faculty members on community development and design as related to health. The main lecturer explained how trends in various diseases and increases in obesity in the United States are directly related to how communities are designed. Although the lecture was in English, translation into Japanese was provided with a question-and-answer period at the end. In preparation for the lecture, students were given two questions on the relationship between nursing and community design. As this lecture occurred at the end of the year, further study could not be done. This paper presents ideas for giving future health professionals opportunities to explore a new direction. Class activities are outlined with an emphasis on English language teaching and learning techniques.