Abstract
Altogether, 1588 dietitians were dispatched from the Japan Dietetic Association (JDA) to a disaster area for the first time on a nationwide scale following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. Various studies have been conducted based on the activity reports, but the support that the disaster area requested was not documented. The purpose of this study is to identify the support that was needed in the disaster area. Therefore, we investigated the necessary support desired by dietitians who lived in the disaster areas. Questionnaires were sent to 1911 dietitians who were members of the JDA and lived in 3 affected prefectures in August 2012. In total, 435 dietitians (22.8%) completed the questionnaire. Among the questions on the questionnaire, we analyzed answers to the open-ended question: “Please write freely about the support that you wanted at the time of the disaster” (n = 332). Using qualitative descriptive analysis, we extracted data from the answers and categorized and labeled them into similar groups. These groups were divided into four categories: (1) “goods,” (2) “establishing a system in advance of a large-scale disaster,” (3) “information,” and (4) “human resources.” To provide “goods,” “information,” and “human resources” to the disaster area smoothly, it is important to plan a “system” in advance of large-scale disasters.
Highlights
In recent years, natural hazards, such as earthquakes, typhoons, and hurricanes, have occurred around the world
In order to document the necessary support for registered dietitians and general dietitians (RDs) in the areas affected by the earthquake, this study analyzed the written responses of dietitians to the open-ended question “Please write freely about the support that you wanted at the time of the disaster.”
The findings suggest that a “system” is needed to ensure that “goods,” “information,” and “human resources” can and quickly enter a disaster area to facilitate nutritional support, (1) goods: creating a system to stock emergency supplies and deliver them where needed; (2) information: establishing a plan or system to obtain information at the time of disaster prior to a disaster occurring; and (3) human resources: establishing a system for dispatching volunteers and disaster dietitians in the appropriate places based on their specialties
Summary
Natural hazards, such as earthquakes, typhoons, and hurricanes, have occurred around the world. Natural hazards cascade to cause disasters [1]. Earthquakes trigger a cascade of disasters such as building collapses, cracks, tsunamis, etc. After such a cascading disaster, the living environment of those who are affected often deteriorates. Necessities such as electricity, gas, and water cease, and roads may be damaged due to the collapse of buildings and landslides. It is not unexpected that dietary conditions may worsen. It has been reported that the worsening of dietary conditions following a disaster induces a deterioration in the health condition of survivors
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