Post 3/11: Interview with Dr. Tomita (Part 3 of 3)

Part 3- Future Relief Efforts: The Importance of Disaster Psychiatry

Nicole Gunawansa | December 19th, 2014
This interview was held on October 8th, 2014 in Tohoku Medical Megabank Building

Currently, Dr. Tomita is working with ToMMo on two cohort studies related to mental health within the Miyagi prefecture: the Community-Based Cohort Study, and the Birth and Three-Generation Cohort Study.

Question 9: What additional projects would you like to see Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization take on in the future?

We are now doing large-scale cohort studies, and we are learning about the mental health conditions of people within the communities. People who join the cohort studies are relatively healthy individuals, but still they experience a strong effect of the disaster on their physical and mental health conditions. However, aside from these projects, we need to design a study to evaluate the more severely affected individuals (those hospitalized due to the disaster), in order to discover how to provide adequate support for them. We need to broaden the range of disaster victims that we analyze, and go beyond the community based study. We also need to combine community and hospital based studies to grasp a broader understanding of how the disaster impacted health conditions.

Question 10: Almost four years have passed since 3/11, in what ways to do you think you personally, or your work has changed from the time of the disaster? Additionally, how far do you think Japan has come from the Great East Japan Earthquake, in terms of restoring the livelihood of the people affected?

Personally, I never have been directly involved in the process of a disaster response and recovery, so I am still in the learning curve. During the time since the disaster, I have learned a lot about various issues related to disaster relief and healthcare.

Japan has come very far since the disaster. However, we need to continue to prepare for the future in case another big disaster would come, based on what we learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake. Disaster psychiatry has not drawn much attention so far, but now is the time to think about the effect of this area on medicine. We need to implement an increased focus on disaster psychiatry in terms of medical education as it should be the standard for all medical settings to be prepared in all possible ways for a big disaster. Additionally, we need to increase first responder education, while also informing citizens on disaster mental health issues to help increase preparedness.

Comments from the Interviewer
As an individual interested in healthcare in relation to natural disasters, I found that Dr. Tomita's statements above provided great insight into the situation that many coastal city affected by 3/11 face. The topic of the Great East Japan Earthquake is a sensitive one, and I have found it a little difficult to approach this subject with people in the Tohoku region. So I am very excited to be doing an interview series with ToMMo as it will allow me to learn about the disaster through the impressive individuals who are leading the current relief efforts in the area.
My interview with Dr. Tomita is the first interview in this series and, actually, my first official interview. While at first I was extremely worried about being a good interviewer, my nervousness was soon forgotten as I listened to Dr. Tomita's interesting account of the mental health situation in Shichigahama Town. His comments depict both the progress Japan has made since 3/11 and the issues that still need to be dealt with. Specifically, temporary housing seems to be a complex issue. As Dr. Tomita mentioned, it is imperative that the temporary housing situation be handled with care, in order to ensure that residents do not find their transition to new homes stressful. I also hope that this transition happens sooner rather than later so that disaster victims can finally return to a relatively normal, stable home life.
Overall, this interview taught me that the Shichigahama Health Promotion Project has provided medical professionals in the Tohoku area with a wealth of knowledge about the emotional aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Combined with the efforts of the ToMMo, disaster medicine (including disaster psychiatry) seems to be making great strides in the restoration of the Tohoku region. This interview was an enlightening experience, and I look forward to more fascinating interviews during my time in Sendai.