Japan: Temporary clinics built for disaster survivors

Médecins Sans Frontières MSF (Doctors Without Borders) is helping build clinics, as our psychologists raise awareness of mental health issues and set up a café to support survivors of the devastating earthquake and tsunami.

MSF has begun to support the construction and rehabilitation of two clinics in the disaster-affected area of northeast Japan, where MSF staff have been working for the last three months.

Health services destroyed

MSF psychologists provide psycho-social support in the MSF cafe space near Bayside Arena, Minami Sanriku, Miyagi prefecture. © Eddy McCall/MSF

In the two places MSF is working, the main primary-care facilities were totally destroyed by the huge tsunami that swept into northeast Japan after the 9.0 magnitude earthquake on 11th March.

In Minami Sanriku, Miyagi prefecture, MSF will help with the design, construction and equipping of a clinic. It is expected to be used for three to five years until a permanent new structure is built by the Government.

In Taro, Iwate prefecture, MSF will assist in the refurbishment and equipping of a similar clinic in a hotel.

New clinics planned

MSF architect, Kunio Yamazumi, has visited the proposed sites and will support the design and supervise the construction process.

“We have submitted our plans for the facilities in Taro and Minami Sanriku and are working closely with local medical authorities to ensure the two clinics meet the needs of the local populations,” he said

In Minami Sanriku, the proposal is for a modular clinic that will offer outpatient facilities, ear, nose and throat services, dentistry, pediatrics and the capacity for various examinations.

In Taro, the services include general outpatient services and basic examination facilities.

Patient transport

In addition, MSF has delivered two 30-seater buses to authorities in Minami Sanriku to transport patients from evacuation centres and temporary housing to medical facilities, including the Bayside Arena Clinic, where MSF is currently providing medical and psychological support services.

MSF also delivered a vehicle specifically designed to transport disabled patients in the town of Taro and surrounding areas.

Mental health care

MSF psychologists continue to engage in a range of outreach and awareness-raising activities in the tsunami-affected region, including distributing leaflets and giving information via a community radio station set up by evacuees.

Key topics discussed include identifying mental health issues, information for parents, stress management and where to seek psycho-social support.

MSF staff have accompanied public health nurses to visit temporary houses and provided direct training while visiting patients. Talks are also underway with a local nursery school to provide school teachers and parents with some training and information about mental health.

Traumatised populations 

“Unlike physical medical problems, mental health is harder to observe and quantify, and can therefore be under-estimated,” said Suzanne Petrie, an MSF psychologist who has previously worked with traumatised populations in Pakistan and Jordan.

 “An entire community infrastructure has been destroyed so normal social support structures and activities are largely non-existent.”

Social support for survivors

Since a‘café’ staffed by a team of MSF psychologists was established near Bayside Arena in Minami Sanriku on 27th April, 2,220 people have used the space, with more than 300 receiving psychological intervention.

The café provides a space where people can get refreshments and talk in an informal setting with mental health staff, who can then identify particularly vulnerable cases requiring further support and offer one-to-one counselling. 

Future well-being

“Disasters like a tsunami alter people’s understanding about a lot of things – about what is safe, their hopes for their future, their relationships, and their community,” said Suzanne, the psychologist.

“For most people, these reactions will naturally reduce with time, but a minority may require professional mental health help. This is when the reactions are particularly severe, persistent and they are significantly impacting on the person’s ability to cope.

“Providing information about normal reactions during this stage of the recovery process, developing awareness about ways of coping, having some services available for individual and group support, and developing the capacity of those who have contact with the community, such as doctors, nurses, teachers, and community workers, are important investments in the future well-being of this community.”