A qualitative analysis of mobile pharmacies as disaster measure and pharmacists’ mental health during disaster support: The 2016 Kumamoto earthquake

Abstract

The use of medical supply vehicles (mobile pharmacies) as a disaster measure developed after the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 when a massive tsunami destroyed the medicine supply system. In the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake, mobile pharmacies were dispatched from Oita, Wakayama, and Hiroshima and contributed to medical treatment in the disaster area. In this study, we conducted an interview to structure the mental conflicts of the pharmacists supporting the disaster victims by means of the mobile pharmacies, a novel medical support tool. We conducted a semi-structured interview of 21 pharmacists. The modified grounded theory approach was used for data collection and analysis. As a result, 36 concepts and 13 categories were generated. The support pharmacists maintained mobile pharmacies as a method for cooperation among multiple occupations, and talked about further collaboration in the operation of mobile pharmacies.