2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Current situation and influential factors access to health-related resources among foreign residents in Japan

Research Project

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Project/Area Number	19K10563
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Section	一般
Review Section	Basic Section 58010:Medical management and medical sociology-related
Research Institution	Nagoya City University
Principal Investigator	Higuchi Michiyo 名古屋市立大学, 大学院看護学研究科, 教授 (00547557)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	サロンガレジナルドバヤニ名古屋市立大学, 高等教育院, 語学講師 (10831018)
Project Period (FY)	2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
Keywords	外国人 / 保健医療アクセス / 保健医療情報 / 健康の社会的要因 / ソーシャルサポート / 健康における公平性 / ユニバーサルヘルスカバレッジ
Outline of Final Research Achievements	This study aimed to investigate the current status and associated factors of access to health-related resources among mid- to long-term foreign residents in Aichi Prefecture, where such residents are significant. Survey 1 targeted local governments as health information and support providers, Survey 2 focused on Japanese language school students, and Survey 3 involved participants in community Japanese language classes. Approximately 20% of the participants in each survey experienced unmet healthcare needs. While an association was observed between access to healthcare and social support across the different target populations, consistent results were not found for other factors. Differences in social support and knowledge were identified among the groups. Local governments' efforts in providing multilingual information were suggested, and participants knew its existence to some extent; however, it was implied that they were not the primary source of information for them.
Free Research Field	公衆衛生
Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements	研究チームの先行研究結果を、調査１では異なる立場から補完し、調査2と３では異なる集団と比較することができた。保健医療へのアクセスや多言語情報など保健情報へのアクセスの状況をエビデンスとして示し、また、それらの関連要因を明らかにした点で本研究の意義があると考える。本研究で残された課題は、新たな科研費研究に発展した。本研究結果は、学術誌、学術集会で発表した以外に、博士論文の一部や修士論文としてまとめられ、教育、人材育成にも寄与した。また、一般向けのフォーラム、報告書、講演などで広く社会に還元され、社会課題の解決や関係者間のネットワーク構築につながったことも、本研究の意義である。