Thinking, talking, and working with professional community workers after the Fukushima nuclear accident

Abstract

This article examines postdisaster public health activities (focusing primarily on parenting support) through collaboration between universities and local government, and reports on the support provided to public health nurses, who are the gatekeepers of community health. For a year after the Fukushima disaster, discussions were held on the short- and long-term measures for responding to the concerns of parents, who face difficulty interpreting risks. Child health checkup data and mothers’ counselling sessions with public health nurses were analysed to gather evidence to reinforce the health system over the long term. As the results of the analysis showed a need for the development of a system for communicating health information in ways that are accessible to residents, a health literacy training programme was developed and implemented for public health nurses in Fukushima Prefecture.