Suchergebnisse

Risk and uncertainty can destabilise and reconstruct the relationships between medicine, policy and publics. Through semi-structured interviews with medical staff following the Fukushima 3.11 Disaster, this paper demonstrates the way in which disruption (caused by disaster), coupled with uncertainty (in this case, around radiation risk) can serve to transform medical practices. After Fukushima, a deficit in publicly-trusted approaches to disaster management meant that the role and status of key medical professionals was transformed. This reorganisation of medical work included the development of new forms of expertise, the stretching of expertise beyond previously well-defined professional boundaries, and shifts in the way in which medical professionals understand and interact with publics. These changes signified the rise of new relationships between the medical workers and their community, as well as adjustments in what were regarded as the boundaries of medical work. Given both the ubiquitous threat of disasters and calls for increased engagement between the medicine and the public, this case study provides insight into the forms which such engagements can take, especially when bound by conditions of uncertainty. The paper draws upon the theoretical literature around the impact of uncertainty on policy, and combines this with medical sociological literature on the nature of medical expertise. The paper examines the shifting of medical expertise towards mode 2 forms, and evidences the impact of a democratised science of risk on the roles and functions of medical practice.

Cover -- Half Title -- Series Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- List of Illustrations -- Acknowledgements -- Editors -- List of Contributors -- Chapter 1: The Reconstruction of Community and Wellbeing in Fukushima - Situating the Case within the Field -- The 3.11 Disaster -- Defining Health and Disaster -- The Health Consequences of 3.11 -- Reflections on the 3.11 Disaster -- References -- Part I: Reflections from the Field -- Chapter 2: Reflections from Frontline Healthcare Workers -- My Ten Years after Experiencing the Great East Japan Earthquake and Experiences from Now On, by Katsuka Onoda -- The Ten Years Since Then, and the Next Ten Years, by Rika Sato -- Chapter 3: Psychiatric Care after the Nuclear Disaster in Fukushima -- References -- Chapter 4: Fukushima Hamadō ri (Coastal Area) High School Academy : Learning and Understanding about Nuclear Disaster with Fukushima High School Students -- Introduction -- Overseas Study in Belarus -- Overseas Study in the United Kingdom -- Domestic Study in Rakkasho Village -- Conclusion -- Chapter 5: The Increased Disaster-Related Deaths after the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster and the System for Their Compensation -- Introduction -- Study Sessions with Doctors -- Systems for Compensation -- Listening to the Deceased -- References -- Part II: Living with Risk -- Chapter 6: Getting the Measure of Radiation Monitoring in Fukushima, Ten Years On -- Introduction to Radiation Monitoring in Fukushima -- 'What is it for?!' -- Between Measuring and Monitoring -- Initial Questions of Safety and Later How to Live Again -- Unique Markers and Navigating New Ways of Knowing -- Allowing Discussion, Validating Concerns and Other Ways of Knowing -- (Re)building Communities -- Indicating Improvement, Stability and Decline -- Conclusion -- References.

"This book examines the issue of disaster recovery in relation to community wellbeing and resilience, exploring the social, political, demographic and environmental changes in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster. The contributors reflect on the Fukushima disaster of earthquake, tsunami and radiation contamination and its impacts on society from an interdisciplinary perspective of the social sciences, critical public health, and the humanities. It focuses on four aspects, which form the sections of the work: Living with Risk and Uncertainty Vulnerability and Inequality Community Action, Engagement and Wellbeing Notes from the Field The first three sections present research on the long-term consequences of the disaster on community health and wellbeing. These findings are enhanced and developed in the 'Notes from the Field' section where local practitioners from medicine and community recovery reflect on their experiences in relation to concepts developed in the previous sections. This work significantly extends the literature on long-term wellbeing following disaster. The case study of Fukushima is a multi-faceted process that illuminates wider issues around post-disaster regeneration in Fukushima. This problem takes on new importance in the context of Covid-19, including direct parallels in the issues of risk measurement, social inequality, and wider wellbeing impacts, which public health disciplines can draw from"--

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate the internal cesium (Cs) level among pregnant women in Minamisoma City (the area straddling the evacuation zones) over a 5-year period after Japan's 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident and assess the status and transition of their food-acquiring preferences during this period. DESIGN: A retrospective observational study of a screening along with a questionnaire survey. SETTING: This study was conducted in an obstetrics and gynaecology service in Minamisoma City in Fukushima, Japan. PARTICIPANTS: Participants included pregnant women who applied for the voluntary internal radiation exposure screening programme. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Internal radiation exposure was evaluated using the whole-body counter (WBC) in the screening programme. Data from a food acquisition preference questionnaire administered to the participants were analysed and compared across the 5-year period after adjusting for covariates. RESULTS: Overall, 804 screening programmes were conducted with 579 participants during the study period. All participants had internal contamination levels below the detection limit of the WBC unit (220 and 250 Bq/body for Cs-134 and Cs-137, respectively). Based on the most conservative assumption, their maximum annual effective doses by Cs-134 and Cs-137 together were estimated at 16 µSv/year. Contrary to limited internal contamination risks and counter-dose initiatives by the government, a considerable number of pregnant women were still concerned about consuming potentially contaminated local food products when purchasing them at supermarkets between 2012 (78.4%) and 2015 (75.0%). CONCLUSIONS: Health effects from post-accident internal radiation exposure were likely to be insignificant in pregnant women. National/local action is urgently needed to promote scientific understanding in pregnant women regarding limited internal exposure risks from local food products in the market. However, few mothers chose to participate in the internal radiation exposure ...