TY - JOUR
T1 - Burnout and Psychiatric Distress in Local Caregivers Two Years After the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Fukushima Nuclear Radiation Disaster
AU - Fujitani, Kenji
AU - Carroll, Matt
AU - Yanagisawa, Robert
AU - Katz, Craig
N1 - Funding Information:
Supported by Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Global Health, New York, NY (The funding organization or sponsor is not involved in any of the following: design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; and preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript.).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York.
PY - 2016/1/1
Y1 - 2016/1/1
N2 - The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake precipitated a triple disaster of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear radiation disaster. To quantify the prevalence of burnout and psychiatric distress in local healthcare providers (caregivers) more than 2 years after the disaster, this study surveyed caregivers from affected areas through interviews about topics of concerns and two questionnaires: Maslach Burnout Inventory and General Health Questionnaire. Concerns listed by respondents were primarily radiation related: additional stress, concern for children, concern for local food, and sleep difficulties. We found significant number of caregivers to have signs of emotional exhaustion, low personal accomplishment, and psychological distress. Our findings suggest that local caregivers are experiencing substantial mental health burdens, which have unfortunately remained static from the year prior, even 2 years after the fact. Therefore, long term psychological support and improvement in caregiver work conditions are essential to maintain sustainable care in rebuilding disaster stricken areas.
AB - The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake precipitated a triple disaster of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear radiation disaster. To quantify the prevalence of burnout and psychiatric distress in local healthcare providers (caregivers) more than 2 years after the disaster, this study surveyed caregivers from affected areas through interviews about topics of concerns and two questionnaires: Maslach Burnout Inventory and General Health Questionnaire. Concerns listed by respondents were primarily radiation related: additional stress, concern for children, concern for local food, and sleep difficulties. We found significant number of caregivers to have signs of emotional exhaustion, low personal accomplishment, and psychological distress. Our findings suggest that local caregivers are experiencing substantial mental health burdens, which have unfortunately remained static from the year prior, even 2 years after the fact. Therefore, long term psychological support and improvement in caregiver work conditions are essential to maintain sustainable care in rebuilding disaster stricken areas.
KW - Burnout
KW - Caregiver
KW - Great East Japan Earthquake
KW - Psychiatric distress
KW - Radiation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84954397836&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10597-015-9924-y
DO - 10.1007/s10597-015-9924-y
M3 - Article
C2 - 26303904
AN - SCOPUS:84954397836
SN - 0010-3853
VL - 52
SP - 39
EP - 45
JO - Community Mental Health Journal
JF - Community Mental Health Journal
IS - 1
ER -