Narratives on the Current Medical Situation in Japan According to Highly Specialized Foreign Professionals
In order to understand the difficulties faced by highly skilled foreign professionals when dealing with the Japanese healthcare system and to identify the support they require therein, university health center staff members of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University condu...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-09-01
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| Series: | Healthcare |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/10/9/1694 |
| _version_ | 1797487829949874176 |
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| author | Tomoari Mori Yoko Deasy Eri Kanemoto Eisuke Nakazawa Akira Akabayashi |
| author_facet | Tomoari Mori Yoko Deasy Eri Kanemoto Eisuke Nakazawa Akira Akabayashi |
| author_sort | Tomoari Mori |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In order to understand the difficulties faced by highly skilled foreign professionals when dealing with the Japanese healthcare system and to identify the support they require therein, university health center staff members of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University conducted semi-structured interviews with faculty, staff, and students from the Institute. Data from the interviews were analyzed by subject matter analysis using a narrative-oriented approach. In total, 13 participants were interviewed, and five themes and 15 subthemes were generated from the 40 codes extracted. Although participants considered themselves to be accepting of other cultures and made little mention of the need for cultural and religious considerations that previous studies have identified as important, they reported that their experiences receiving healthcare in Japan were fraught with many difficulties. They felt that the capacity to communicate in Japanese was a prerequisite for receiving appropriate healthcare and that hospitals should assume the responsibility of providing language support. While they reported satisfaction with the easy and inexpensive access to advanced medical equipment and specialists in Japan, they also noted challenges in selecting medical institutions and departments, the flow and procedures in the hospital, and building open and direct relationships with doctors. In addition, based on the present study, people with chronic illnesses felt isolated from the community, worried about a lack of privacy, and wanted a primary care physician they could trust. In order to provide appropriate healthcare to foreigners, we require an accurate understanding of their needs, how to address these comprehensively and in a multifaceted manner, and how the communication responsibilities should be shared among the involved parties (i.e., foreign care recipients and Japanese medical professionals). |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T23:53:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3fa1d06f22534b97a37b71195cf2c36c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-9032 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T23:53:23Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Healthcare |
| spelling | doaj.art-3fa1d06f22534b97a37b71195cf2c36c2023-11-23T16:29:15ZengMDPI AGHealthcare2227-90322022-09-01109169410.3390/healthcare10091694Narratives on the Current Medical Situation in Japan According to Highly Specialized Foreign ProfessionalsTomoari Mori0Yoko Deasy1Eri Kanemoto2Eisuke Nakazawa3Akira Akabayashi4Health Center, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), Okinawa 904-0495, JapanHealth Center, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), Okinawa 904-0495, JapanHealth Center, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), Okinawa 904-0495, JapanDepartment of Biomedical Ethics, University of Tokyo Faculty of Medicine, Tokyo 113-0033, JapanDepartment of Biomedical Ethics, University of Tokyo Faculty of Medicine, Tokyo 113-0033, JapanIn order to understand the difficulties faced by highly skilled foreign professionals when dealing with the Japanese healthcare system and to identify the support they require therein, university health center staff members of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University conducted semi-structured interviews with faculty, staff, and students from the Institute. Data from the interviews were analyzed by subject matter analysis using a narrative-oriented approach. In total, 13 participants were interviewed, and five themes and 15 subthemes were generated from the 40 codes extracted. Although participants considered themselves to be accepting of other cultures and made little mention of the need for cultural and religious considerations that previous studies have identified as important, they reported that their experiences receiving healthcare in Japan were fraught with many difficulties. They felt that the capacity to communicate in Japanese was a prerequisite for receiving appropriate healthcare and that hospitals should assume the responsibility of providing language support. While they reported satisfaction with the easy and inexpensive access to advanced medical equipment and specialists in Japan, they also noted challenges in selecting medical institutions and departments, the flow and procedures in the hospital, and building open and direct relationships with doctors. In addition, based on the present study, people with chronic illnesses felt isolated from the community, worried about a lack of privacy, and wanted a primary care physician they could trust. In order to provide appropriate healthcare to foreigners, we require an accurate understanding of their needs, how to address these comprehensively and in a multifaceted manner, and how the communication responsibilities should be shared among the involved parties (i.e., foreign care recipients and Japanese medical professionals).https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/10/9/1694foreign residents in Japanmedical issuesqualitative researchlanguage supportintercultural communication |
| spellingShingle | Tomoari Mori Yoko Deasy Eri Kanemoto Eisuke Nakazawa Akira Akabayashi Narratives on the Current Medical Situation in Japan According to Highly Specialized Foreign Professionals Healthcare foreign residents in Japan medical issues qualitative research language support intercultural communication |
| title | Narratives on the Current Medical Situation in Japan According to Highly Specialized Foreign Professionals |
| title_full | Narratives on the Current Medical Situation in Japan According to Highly Specialized Foreign Professionals |
| title_fullStr | Narratives on the Current Medical Situation in Japan According to Highly Specialized Foreign Professionals |
| title_full_unstemmed | Narratives on the Current Medical Situation in Japan According to Highly Specialized Foreign Professionals |
| title_short | Narratives on the Current Medical Situation in Japan According to Highly Specialized Foreign Professionals |
| title_sort | narratives on the current medical situation in japan according to highly specialized foreign professionals |
| topic | foreign residents in Japan medical issues qualitative research language support intercultural communication |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/10/9/1694 |
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