Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-qxdb6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T19:01:10.459Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Practical Report on Long-term Disaster Mental Health Services Following the Great East Japan Earthquake: Psychological and Social Background of Evacuees in Sendai City in the Mid- to Long-term Post-disaster Period

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 March 2017

Masatsugu Orui ,
Shuichiro Harada ,
Mizuho Hayashi  and
for the Disaster Mental Health Team of the Sendai City Mental Health and Welfare Center
Masatsugu Orui*
Affiliation:
Sendai City Mental Health and Welfare Center, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan Department of Public Health, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan
Shuichiro Harada
Affiliation:
Sendai City Mental Health and Welfare Center, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan
Mizuho Hayashi
Affiliation:
Sendai City Mental Health and Welfare Center, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Masatsugu Orui, Department of Public Health, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan (e-mail: oruima@fmu.ac.jp).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objective

The Great East Japan Earthquake, which occurred on March 11, 2011, caused unprecedented damage. To address evacuees’ psychosocial issues, our disaster mental health team provided psychosocial support in the form of careful listening and providing information for reconstruction.

Methods

To summarize evacuees’ psychosocial issues, we reviewed records of our daily activities and analyzed factors related to continuation or termination of support. Terminated support was defined as the resolution or improvement of psychological issues relative to the time of initial support.

Results

Based on logistic regression analysis, living in prefabricated temporary housing (odds ratio [OR]: 0.37; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.19-0.72), a high number of improved stress symptoms (0.81; 95% CI: 0.67-0.99), and higher support frequency (0.84; 95% CI: 0.78-0.90) were significantly associated with a lower likelihood of continuing support. Conversely, economic and resettlement issues (2.75; 95% CI: 1.63-4.64) and high numbers of stress symptoms (1.24; 95% CI: 1.06-1.45) were strongly and significantly associated with continuing support, particularly in the mid- to long-term phase following the earthquake (ie, after August 1, 2011). No significant association was found between support status and alcohol problems or disaster-related experiences (eg, loss of family or housing).

Conclusion

Our findings highlight the need to be aware of evacuees’ social issues such as resettlement in the mid- to long-term post-disaster phase. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:439–450)

Keywords

disastermental health servicepsychosocial supporthealth care system
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 11 , Issue 4 , August 2017 , pp. 439 - 450
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Sendai City Officials. Damage status in Sendai city after the Great East Japan Earthquake [in Japanese]. Available: http://www.city.sendai.jp/higaiho/20110311_jisin.html. Published October 27, 2015. Accessed December 15, 2015.Google Scholar
2. Murphy, SA. Status of natural disaster victims’ health and recovery 1 and 3 years later. Res Nurs Health. 1986;9(4):331-340. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/nur.4770090410.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3. Kiliç, C, Ulusoy, M. Psychological effects of the November 1999 earthquake in Turkey: an epidemiological study. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2003;108(3):232-238. http://dx.doi.org/10.1034/j.1600-0447.2003.00119.x.Google Scholar
4. Wu, H-C, Chou, P, Huang-Chih Chou, F, et al. Survey of quality of life and related risk factors for a Taiwanese village population 3 years post-earthquake. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2006;40(4):355-361. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/j.1440-1614.2006.01802.x.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5. Hyodo, K, Nakamura, K, Oyama, M, et al. Long-term suicide mortality rates decrease in men and increase in women after the Niigata-Chuetsu earthquake in Japan. Tohoku J Exp Med. 2010;220(2):149-155. http://dx.doi.org/10.1620/tjem.220.149.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6. Suzuki, Y, Tsutsumi, A, Fukasawa, M, et al. Prevalence of mental disorders and suicidal thoughts among community-dwelling elderly adults 3 years after the Niigata-Chuetsu Earthquake. J Epidemiol . 2011;21(2):144-150. http://dx.doi.org/10.2188/jea.JE20100093.Google Scholar
7. Kim, Y. Great East Japan earthquake and early mental-health-care response. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2011;65(6):539-548. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1819.2011.02270.x.Google Scholar
8. Takeda, M. Mental health care and East Japan Great Earthquake. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2011;65(3):207-212. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1819.2011.02220.x.Google Scholar
9. Suzuki, Y, Kim, Y. The great east Japan earthquake in 2011; toward sustainable mental health care system. Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci. 2012;21(01):7-11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S2045796011000795.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10. Fukasawa, M, Suzuki, Y, Nakajima, S, et al. Systematic consensus building on disaster mental health services after the Great East Japan Earthquake by phase. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2015;9(04):359-366. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2015.13.Google Scholar
11. Kato, Y, Uchida, H, Mimura, M. Mental health and psychosocial support after the Great East Japan Earthquake. Keio J Med. 2012;61(1):15-22. http://dx.doi.org/10.2302/kjm.61.15.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12. Shinfuku, N. Disaster mental health: lessons learned from the Hanshin Awaji earthquake. World Psychiatry. 2002;1:158-159.Google ScholarPubMed
13. Buck, A, Pleasence, P. Nigel J Balmer. Reaching Further: Innovation, Access and Quality in Legal Services. London: The Stationery Office; 2009:73-74. http://books.google.com/books?id=TejBySbQgeoC&pg=PA73.Google Scholar
14. Tanisho, Y, Smith, A, Sodeoka, T, et al. Post Disaster Mental Health in Japan: Lessons and challenges. Health and Global Institute. https://www.hgpi.org/handout/Post%20Disaster%20Mental%20Health%20in%20Japan%20Final%20HGPI%200.1.pdf. Published March 2015.Google Scholar
15. National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Psychiatry and Neurology. Guidelines for Local Mental Health Care Activities after a Disaster [translated by JICA: Japan International Cooperation Agency]. http://saigai-kokoro.ncnp.go.jp/document/pdf/mental_info_guide_en.pdf. Published January 17, 2003. Accessed December 8, 2015.Google Scholar
16. North, CS, Ringwalt, CL, Downs, D, et al. Postdisaster course of alcohol use disorders in systematically studied survivors of 10 disasters. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2011;68(2):173-180. http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2010.131.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17. Nordløkken, A, Pape, H, Wentzel-Larsen, T, et al. Changes in alcohol consumption after a natural disaster: a study of Norwegian survivors after the 2004 Southeast Asia tsunami. BMC Public Health. 2013;13(1):58. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-13-58.Google Scholar
18. Ueda, Y, Yabe, H, Maeda, M, et al; for the Fukushima Health Management Survey Group. Drinking behavior and mental illness among evacuees in Fukushima following the Great East Japan Earthquake: The Fukushima Health Management Survey. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2016;40(3):623-630. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/acer.12984.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
19. Yokoyama, Y, Otsuka, K, Kawakami, N, et al. Mental health and related factors after the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami. PLoS One. 2014;24:9(7):e102497. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0102497.Google Scholar
20. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Rapid assessment of health needs and resettlement plans among Hurricane Katrina evacuees-San Antonio, Texas, September 2005. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2006;55:242-244.Google Scholar
21. Nakagawa, Y, Shaw, R. Social capital: a missing link to disaster recovery. Int J Mass Emerg Disasters. 2004;22:5-34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
22. Tomiyasu, R, Imoto, S, Otsuki, T, et al. Proposal and practice of ‘COMMUNITY-CARE TEMPORARY-HOUSING’. AIJ J Technol Des. 2013;19(42):671-676. http://dx.doi.org/10.3130/aijt.19.671.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23. Aldrich, DP. The power of people: social capital’s role in recovery from the 1995 Kobe earthquake. Nat Hazards. 2011;56(3):595-611. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11069-010-9577-7.Google Scholar
24. Aldrich, DP. Social networks and Japanese democracy: the beneficial impact of interpersonal communication in East Asia. Soc Sci Jpn J. 2012;15(2):276-278. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ssjj/jys013.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
25. Koyama, S, Aida, J, Kawachi, I, et al. Social support improves mental health among the victims relocated to temporary housing following the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. Tohoku J Exp Med. 2014;234(3):241-247. http://dx.doi.org/10.1620/tjem.234.241.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Orui supplementary material

Tables S1 and S2

Download Orui supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 306.1 KB