An investigation of potential demand for acupuncture and moxibustion from the medical information center for foreign residents in Japan / 全日本鍼灸学会雑誌

[Introduction]The number of foreign residents in Japan reached 1.7%of the national population at the end of 2010, and currently the number of foreign permanent residents is increasing. Althogh this “domestic globalization”has been in progress for some time, the health status and needs of foreign residents for acupuncture treatment are not known to acupuncture practitioners in Japan. The purpose of this study is to reveal the proportion of potential demand for acupuncture by examining the consultation records for medical informations from foreigners living in Japan.<BR>[Method]From all the records of telephone consultation for medical information by foreign residents from all over the country to AMDA International Medical Information Center in 2010, we extracted the consultations associated with acupuncture.<BR>[Results]Among a total of 2,172 consultations, 6calls were associated with acupuncture (0.3%). Most of the foreign residents who made these consultations were from South America. 4calls were requests for information about acupuncture clinics from foreigners suffering from orthopedic disease or symptoms (66.7%). With respect to the consultion languages, 4consulters accepted inquiries in Japanese (66.7%).<BR>[Discussion]Foreign residents who expect acupuncture treatment are not common, but it became obvious that some foreigners have difficulty finding acupuncture clinics and information in Japan. There were some cases that should have been applicable to acupuncture, but were instead directed to other diagnosis departments or hospitals. One reason for this consequence seems to be the lack of information among foreign residents about the indications and therapeutic effects of acupuncture. Considering the influx of foreigners and the aging of foreign residents, the possibility of foreigners reciving acupuncture treatment may be developed by appropriate distribution of information.

A Survey of the Awareness and Ability of Health Care Providers to Cope with Language Barriers at Medical Facilities in Hyogo, Japan / 国際保健医療

<B>OBJECTIVE:</B><br>This study aims to examine the awareness and ability of health care providers to cope with language barriers at medical facilities in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, and to clarify the issues concerning health care for foreigners.<br><B>METHODS:</B><br>In total, 2100 copies of self-report questionnaires on issues of health care for foreigners were mailed to health care providers of 352 hospitals in Hyogo. The survey was conducted from February to March 2010.<br><B>RESULTS:</B><br>The response rate of medical facilities was 21.6% (76/352), whereas that of the health care providers was 15.2% (320/2100). Approximately 10% hospitals handled foreign patients at least once per month, and they dealt with patients using several languages, including English, Chinese, Korean, and others. The providers' main issue was communication with their foreign patients. The documents and booklets for guidance regarding some health care procedures at the hospitals were also poorly prepared. It is therefore exceedingly necessary for hospitals to provide common documents in different languages; moreover, the government or local authorities should arrange for public medical interpretation services.<br><B>DISCUSSION:</B><br>Medical facilities in Hyogo have been struggling to improve their linguistic capabilities, and it is difficult to indicate whether public organizations concerned with medical interpretation are being recognized. Efforts on the part of medical facilities and local and national governments, as well as cooperation of nonprofit organizations, are immensely essential to resolve the issue of multilingual health care. This survey suggests that to help people with diverse languages, the health care system in Japan should be improved rapidly, particularly with regard to the establishment of licensed professional medical interpreters.

Japanese Nurses' Views of Perioperative Management of Foreign Patients in Osaka / 国際保健医療

Objectives: To examine perceptions of nursing care for foreign patients in the ward and operating room (OR) and to clarify incidents and difficulties in nursing care.<br>Methods: Fifty-five obstetric and gynecological ward nurses and 13 OR nurses were contacted in writing and asked to participate in a self-administered questionnaire to clarify their perceptions of nursing care for foreign patients.<br>Results: The response rates for ward nurses and OR nurses were 65% (n=36) and 77% (n=10) respectively. One hundred percent of nurses with experience of foreign patient care stated that they had difficulties with language, cultural differences, the medical system, and financial problems. Incidents resulting from the nursing care included: not following instructions not to take food/drink, walking too soon, and missing their clinical follow-up appointment after discharge.<br>Conclusions: This research showed major difficulties with perioperative nursing care for foreign patients. These difficulties may have occurred as a result of issues such as language, differences in culture and the health care system. Difficulty with nursing care for foreign patients sometimes causes incidents. It is recommended that the barriers between non-Japanese patients and the medical staff are rectified in the perioperative period, when mutual understanding is important.

A needs survey of medical service for foreign residents in Japan from the viewpoint of medical practitioners-Report of a survey for doctors in Gunma medical association and Gunma pediatric association- / 国際保健医療

<B>Introduction</B><BR>Recently, an increasing number of registered foreigners get married and bear children in Japan. At the same time, a variety of needs for maternal and child health (MCH) impose burden for medical practitioners. A questionnaire survey was conducted to clarify the situation of MCH service for foreign residents.<BR><B>Method</B><BR>Self-report questionnaires developed by “The study group for MCH in a multiethnic and multicultural society” were sent by mail to the pediatricians registered in the Gunma medical association or Gunma pediatric association. In total, target number was 299. The survey period was between 2003/10/6-11/3.<BR><B>Result</B><BR>The number of valid response was 167. Out of 167, 155 doctors replied to have experience of caring foreigners. 75% of them had the experience of trouble in communication. For the question of the need of translator, 76.8% of doctors answered “absolutely necessary” or “necessary if the quality of translation is high enough”. Desired competencies for translators were “Accurate translation of diagnosis, hands on of treatment strategy” or “To help taking detailed patient's history”.<BR>For the experience of using MCH handbook in foreign languages, 52.9% of doctors answered “Never used it”.<BR><B>Discussion</B><BR>We found that the majority of doctors had difficulty in communicating with foreigners.<BR>To meet the doctors' requirement for the competency of translator, two strategies should be considered. One is to develop professional medical translator through education of basic medical knowledge or Japan's health care system. The other is to train foreigners already engaging in translation.<BR>For communication tools development, user friendly concept should be reflected including 1) adscript of foreign and Japanese languages, 2) illustration usage and 3) eye-friendly materials for elderly. Contents should have explanations including 1) diagnosis and treatment policy for common disease, 2) ways of coping with common symptoms, and 3) the information of a variety of Japan's welfare services.

The process of building relationships between foreign patients and nurses in Japan / 国際保健医療

 The purpose of this inductive study was to clarify the process of building relationships between foreign patients, who are residents in Japan, with diverse cultural backgrounds and nurses who have cared for hospitalized foreign patients within the past year. Data collection was conducted through semi-structured interviews of eleven Japanese nurses. Analysis of data used the grounded theory methodology. <br> The results of the analysis revealed the following core components of the relationship building process: [Intention to provide appropriate nursing care for foreign patients], [Intention to understand foreign patients’ diverse backgrounds from the perspective of one’s own culture], [Indecision regarding relationships with foreign patients], and [Compromises between nurses and foreign patients]. Furthermore, 25 categories and 110 subcategories of these components were identified.<br> The most important feature of the process of building relationships between foreign patients and nurses was that nurses requested that foreign patients have the same role as Japanese patients<br> Subsequently, the nurses became aware of the differences between their own culture and foreign patients’ diverse cultural backgrounds. Consequently, the nurses had made progress in increasing their awareness of cultural differences.<br> The present results suggest the importance of facilitating Japanese nurses’ recognition of the existence of cultural difference, and improving the process of compromising with accepted cultural difference.

Health and Community of the Foreign Residents / 国際保健医療

 Kani city, Gifu is yet a typical small local town of 100,000 populations but has Japanese Brazilian and Filipino increased recently and shares 7% of total population that is a foreigner residing town.<br> The foreigner residing towns to be called are facing similar several issues at every place. The working and educational environment for the people as the migrant worker from Central and South America and their health condition which is the most important became worsen.<br> 4 years ago in Kani city, we made a survey for the educational environment of the children of foreigners for 2 years period, which was reported in public and gained favorable evaluation from several sectors.<br> Nowadays we are promoting to assure their social status who live in the local community. They are working as same as Japanese, and sometime to do the job that Japanese would not, but it seems that they are ignored on their treatment in the social life. If they spoil their own health, their life planning may cause a serious problem. Once they dropout, they may not have any chance to recover themselves. This means the “healthy condition” of the local society will be damaged before long. Therefore, we started the foreign nationality citizen's committee where we can maintain not only the individual health but also to be healthy local society from the concept that the foreign residents would not rely on the local society but they act themselves as the citizen and the local residents to participate with the local activities so that they can enjoy their independency, health, pleasure and hope.