A social worker's approach to alcohol-related problems after the earthquake
Report on the support activities of the Japan Social Worker Association for Alcohol-Related Problems inIshinomaki City
Japan Social Worker Association for Alcohol-Related Problems
Disaster-Stricken Area Support Project - Sakae Fujita

Introduction
Four years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake, and infrastructure development
projects are progressing in the stricken areas, requiring more time for the citizens’ lives to stabilize. Afterthe earthquake in 2011, local helpers began tackling alcohol-related issues in Ishinomaki City. Local
helpers are working to address alcohol-related issues that have been considered difficult to treat, throughtraining of supporters and consultations with outside experts. In the Ishinomaki City of the Miyagi
Prefecture, the Japan Social Worker Association for Alcohol-Related Problems (hereinafter referred to as
ASW Association) has been working on intervening in alcohol-related issues after the earthquake since
September 2011 and has been obtaining results. This paper reports activities in FY2014 that describes thecontents and results of the support activities and raises future issues.
1. Purpose of the ProjectThis project in Miyagi Prefecture’s Ishinomaki City provides (i) mental health and daily life support forresidents with alcohol problems, (ii) necessary knowledge and information to local helpers, and (iii)
conducts case consultations to help supporters handle residents with problems; which will overall improvetheir skills as supporters.
2. Project Contents of FY2014
To achieve the project goals, the ASW Association dispatched psychiatric social workers to Ishinomaki
City twice a month from April 2014 to March 2015 (second Friday and fourth Wednesday) and conducted
the following 7 support activities: 1. Case consultations, 2. Consultations for the individual or family
members, 3. Accompanying public health nurses when visiting temporary housing, 4. Attending
coordination meetings with local people involved, 5. Case study meetings, 6. Lecturers for lectures targeted
at residents, and 7. Planning and management of continuous lectures and workshops for local helpers. In
all these cases, the Ishinomaki Health Promotion Division coordinates and the ASW Association provides
manpower. The number of dispatched support members in 2014 was eight. Among them, five membersprovided one-on-one support, and three members were dispatched as planners/lecturers of training sessions.

3. Project Progress and Results- 69 -

The following are the support activities targeted for individual support activities of 1, 2, 3, and 4 continued
since FY2013 (Figures 1 and 2). We handled 17 cases, occurring 28 times, and 9 new cases. There were threecases of visits with four interactions, and two cases of family consultations twice. There were 12 cases ofconsultations and case meetings, 5 of which were case meetings occurring 7 times. Individuals affiliated withthe support center for the disabled, the welfare office for the elderly, the helper office, the Disaster Mental
Health Care Network Miyagi Karakoro Station, the Community Welfare Support Center, the Ishinomaki
Municipal Hospital Kaisei Temporary Clinic, private support organizations, municipal public health nurses,
and the Area Comprehensive Support Center; attended the case meetings. Consultations were held 15 times.

Breakdown of cases
handled (17 cases)
New (9 cases)

Continuous (8 cases)

Figure 1

Training /Lecture
Sessions

Case Meeting

Consultations

FamilyConsultations

VisitsFigure 2Breakdown of Cases Handled in FY2014 (new /continuous)

Number of Cases Handled (by type of support)

In FY2014, we continued one-on-one support held along with the following training sessions for localhelpers.

- 70 -( 1 ) Supporter training program
In FY2012, training sessions were conducted mainly for the acquisition of basic knowledge, but fromFY2014, sessions were planned with an emphasis on the acquisition of specific skills to handle difficult
cases. On the other hand, trainees requested training regarding methods to work with and coordinate withlocally involved individuals. The locally involved individuals have been able to deepen theirunderstanding of the problem through training in this project and lectures and workshops on alcohol
problems held after the earthquake. In 2014, they sought training sessions to help them acquire specificskills for one-on-one treatments. In response to such requests, we organized and held a total of five training
sessions. The contents are shown below.
Table 1 FY2014 Supporter Training Program
Lecture Contents

Lecturer

The Finding andIntervention of Alcohol
Problems

Sumie Okada

Intervention in Problem
Awareness Towards Change

Sumie Okada

Handling Individuals Who
Don’t Change

Number ofParticipants

Event Date

October 10th, 201430

December 12th, 2014

25

January 9th, 201533

February 13th, 201535

March 13th, 2015

19

Sakae Fujita

Naoto Okazaki
Sumie Okada
Sakae Fujita
Naoto Okazaki

Thinking About Regional
Cooperation: How to
Prepare and Manage Case
Meetings
Thinking About Regional
Cooperation: How to
Prepare and Manage Case
Meetings

Sumie Okada
Sakae Fujita
Naoto Okazaki
Sumie Okada
Sakae Fujita
Naoto Okazaki

Case Meetings in Practice( 2 ) Lectures for Residents
At the request of public health nurses, lectures were given at a health classroom at a temporary housing
assembly hall.
Table 2 Lecture for Residents with Alcohol Problems
Lecture Contents

Lecturer

How to Interact Well Mitsuyuki SatoVenue
Sandanbashiri
Temporary Housing
Assembly Hall- 71 -Event Date
December 24th, 2014

Number ofParticipants17

4. Achievements of FY2014 and Future Issues
It was a year in which we felt the results of the support activities we had been conducting since FY2011,
had accumulated year by year. The required support issues evolved every year, and the training subjects
became more specific and highly specialized. From these points, we felt that the local helpers improved
their skills in interacting and working with disaster victims. The basis of this achievement was accepting
the alcohol problems as “a problem that would become serious after the disaster,” and the willingness andunderlying strengths of the locals who had begun to work actively.
Tohoku was a region in which the population had been declining before the earthquake, but the ASW
Association, an external supporter, felt the “connection” between the citizens and involved individuals
every time they came to provide support. This was thought not to be the result of disaster recovery, but anunderlying force already presents in the area. Sometimes, this can be a pressure or a restraint that requires
the consideration of surrounding individuals. However, the major factor that ensured the spread ofcontinued support and remained throughout the region was this “connection.” At a meeting of involved
parties, we heard that "the alcohol problem is no longer a challenge and we believe that our region can now
handle the problem on its own."
Besides, the contents and teaching materials of the lectures developed during the planning, preparation,and holding of the training sessions in response to the demands of the disaster-stricken area can begeneralized not only to that area but also to many helpers. Responding to the demands of the affected areas
was a great experience for the ASW Association, allowing it to gain strength.
The consultations will be continued in FY2015 with the number of one-on-one support being given sixtimes a year. The training sessions conducted in Ishinomaki City in FY2014 are scheduled to be extended
to Higashi Matsushima City and Onagawa Town. The ASW Association's challenge is to stay involved in
the process of building skills to accommodate alcohol problems.

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