An Ethnographic Exploration of Culture and Values among Refugees in Japan

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K23221
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: 0908:Society medicine, nursing, and related fields
• Research Institution: Nagoya University
• Principal Investigator: NAKAJIMA MAKI 名古屋大学, 医学系研究科(保健), 助教 (40877065)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-09-11 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 在日難民 / その人らしく生きる / 文化 / 看取り / 難民コミュニティ / 看護ケアモデル / エスノグラフィー

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study aimed to extract the elements necessary for refugees to live their desired lives. This ethnographic study included online and face-to-face interviews and participant observations, conducted between September 2020 and October 2022 in the Indo-Chinese refugee community in Japan. Study participants included 14 refugees. Five major themes emerged: 1) having a place of belief; 2) receiving recognition from people and society; 3) protecting their own culture; 4) receiving culturally respectful end-of-life care; and 5) living a peaceful, settled life with their family as a person, not a refugee. The following elements of the nursing model for refugees in Japan were derived: providing a safe place, being involved on an equal footing, understanding complex backgrounds, providing culturally sensitive end-of-life care, building trusting relationships (feeling safe to speak up), and respecting the patient as an individual.

Free Research Field

国際災害看護学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

在日難民を対象とした看護研究は非常に限られてる。本研究は、難民のその人らしく生きることに看護の視点から着眼し、難民自身の声を明らかにした。本研究知見は、対象者理解及び在日難民の目線に立った看護ケアモデルの構築に繋がる実践的なものである。近年ウクライナからの避難民の受入れも行っており、難民条約加盟国が少ないアジアにおいて、日本における難民を取り巻く現状を発信する意義は大きい。難民への医療・看護システムの構築は重要な課題であり、課題解決に繋がる研究であると考える。