The breakdown by the Great East Japan earthquake and recovery of mental health care system: Case studies by story-telling

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26671020
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Gerontological nursing
• Research Institution: University of Kochi
• Principal Investigator: NAKAYAMA Yoko 高知県立大学, 看護学部, 教授 (60180444)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): KATO Ikuko 福島県立医科大学, 看護学部, 講師 (00457805)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 東日本大震災 / 精神科医療 / 災害看護学

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this study is to record the recovery of mental health care system, which was destroyed by the Great East Japan earthquake, in Hama-dori (coastal area) of Fukushima Prefecture in Japan. Story-telling sessions with mental health care providers who experienced the earthquake disaster were analyzed as case studies. One of these story-telling cases (Case A) was from psychiatric hospital in the coastal area, which became dysfunctional by tunami, and the other case (Case B) was from Soso area where the mental health care system collapsed after the Fukushima nuclear plant accident. In both cases, they were able to recover and reform into new mental health systems in the post-disaster recovery phase. According to the strories, the recovery was possible due to the acculated trust founded upon the mental health care providers' relationship and their networks, clear commitment to recovery, and collaboration among all individuals who worked together to rebuild the system.

Free Research Field

精神看護学, 災害看護学