Abstract
At the time of large-scale disasters, people’s life and property are at very high risk due to the building collapses, tsunamis, and fires. However, the health risks are not just those of the acute phase. On top of the trauma caused by the disaster, disaster-vulnerable people such as hospitalized patients, in-home care recipients, dialysis patients, pregnant women, infants, and people with disabilities also face high health risk in the long-term sheltering. Issues of health care in disaster situations tend to be discussed in the context of acute medical support. On the other hand, the health impact of long-term sheltering and living in the temporary housing has not been discussed enough. In this chapter, based on the cases that were seen in the Great East Japan Earthquake, we will discuss the health risks that stem from long-term sheltering and what kind of support is necessary to reduce such risks. In these cases, the early detection and response against the health risk of affected people were realized by a collaboration of those monitoring the residents and those managing the shelters. In addition, the importance of collaboration among healthcare and non-healthcare support teams as well as the use of ICT to smoothen the collaboration has been suggested.
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Miyagawa, S., Satoh, M., Furuya, S., Yamada, Y., Shaw, R. (2020). External Support and Community Cooperation During Long-Term Sheltering—From the Case of the Great East Japan Earthquake. In: Chan, E., Shaw, R. (eds) Public Health and Disasters. Disaster Risk Reduction. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0924-7_13
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