Overview of theMiyagi DisasterMental Health CareCenterOverview of the Miyagi Disaster Mental Health Care Center
Overview of operating association
Name:

Miyagi Prefecture Mental Health and Welfare
AssociationPurpose ofestablishment

Promote mental health and welfare, and improvethe mental health and welfare of citizens inMiyagi Prefecture

Director

Noriyuki Takashina(Chairman, Shotokai Minamihama Central
Hospital)

Establishmentof association

1971 (opened 1959)

Location

Osaki City, Miyagi Prefecture

Progress of Installation of the Miyagi Disaster Mental Health Care Center (MDMHCC)
A Disaster Mental Health Care Center needed to be installed as a base to provide long-term response tovictims of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, alcohol-related problems, suicides, and othermental problems caused by the earthquake disaster; and support medical care and community life for people
with mental illness. Miyagi Prefecture inquired about the operation of a center, and following active efforts by
the Association, a Disaster Mental Health Care Center was established and operated in the Prefecture.
 November 2011 Establishment of a preparation room within the Association

December 2011 Establishment of the Disaster Mental Health Care Center (Stem Center)

April 2012 Establishment of the Ishinomaki Regional Center
and Kesennuma Regional Center

Miyagi Disaster Mental Health Care Center system
President
Number of staff
Professions

Locations (activityareas)

Kesennuma
City

Naru Fukuchi (Hospital Associate Professor, Tohoku Medicaland Pharmaceutical University Hospital)
29 (25 full-time, 4 part-time) as of April 1, 2022
psychiatrists, psychiatric social workers, psychologists, publichealth nurses, nurses● Stem Center [Aoba Ward, Sendai City]○ Activity areas (Shiogama District, Iwanuma District,inland areas)● Ishinomaki Regional Center [Ishinomaki City]○ Activity areas (Ishinomaki District)● Kesennuma Regional Center [Kesennuma City]○ Activity areas (Kesennuma District and Ichinoseki District(evacuation destination))

Kurihara City

Tome City

Kami Town

Minamisanriku
Town

Osaki City
WakuyaTown
Ishinomaki City

Ohira Village
Taiwa Town
Tomiya City

Onagawa Town

Osato
Town Matsushima
Town

Shiogama City

Sendai City

Tagajo City

Shichigahama
Town

Kawasaki Town

Zao Town

Shichigama
Town

Shiroishi
City

Natori City
MurataTown
Iwanuma CityShibata
Town
OgawaraWatariTown
Town
Kakuda
CityYamamoto
Town

Marumori
Town

Kesennuma Regional Center
Ishinomaki Regional Center
Stem Center

Miyagi Disaster Mental Health Care Center organization chart （As of April 1, 2022）

President
Ishinomaki Regional Center
Director

AdvisorKesennuma Regional Center
Director

Vice President(concurrent) Executive
Director

General Affairs
Division

Community Support
Department Director

Ishinomaki Regional Center
Community Support Division

Stem Center Community
Support Division−3 −Kesennuma Regional Center
Community Support DivisionBasic principle
Improvement of community mental health welfare in disaster-affected areasBasic policy of activities① Implement “seamless support for the public, from children to adults”② Resident support involves mental health care activities centering on outreach, based on accompanying visitswith related organizations, such as municipalities.
③ Support for supporters involves implementing activities that contribute to the improvement of their skills
through case studies and consultations as well as target support relating to the mental health of supporters.
④ Raising public awareness involves activities relating to mental health for community residents, prioritizing
preventive viewpoints to deepen understanding and interest in the mental health of residents while
cooperating with municipalities.
⑤ Implementing activities with the perspective of handing down the experience cultivated in past activities,
such as summarizing the ideal way of support that can be utilized in the event of a future disaster; theactivities that the Center has overseen to date comprise valuable knowledge of mental health care activities
in the event of a disaster.
⑥ Conducting activities according to the actual circumstances of municipalities while collaborating andcooperating with related organizations, such as municipalities, to improve community mental health andwelfare activities; systematically implementing the transition of various projects to related organizations inanticipation of the conclusion of activities in FY 2025.
Main activities from 2021
We consider all residents of Miyagi Prefecture who were psychologically affected by the Great East Japan
Earthquake as targets of mental health care, and we are engaged in support projects according to the groundreality of the community. Our vision is to help citizens of the prefecture live with peace of mind as soon as
possible in the community.
We will provide consultation for avariety of psychological problems,
including the psychological effectsof the earthquake, among the public,
from children to adults.

We will disseminate
information and conduct
public awareness activities forprefectural residents to havean interest in mental healthand deepen theirunderstanding of it.

Resident
SupportRaising
PublicAwareness

Support forSupporters

We will help local government
officials and supporters tackle
various mental health issues byproviding professional advice
and a variety of training,
including self-care, to improveskills and reduce psychologicalburdens.

■ Characteristics of initiatives

 We conduct activities that meet the needs of the community, with a focus on support provided by the health andwelfare departments of local governments as well as disaster victim support staff.
 Multiple professionals go beyond the boundaries of their professions and work as a team.

−4−

Activity results
We respond to the needs of the community, including the following: health surveys of tenants in emergency(container-type) temporary/apartment-type rental and public housing installed in Miyagi Prefecture; support forindividuals who required follow-up based on results of various health surveys conducted in municipalities; professional
advice regarding support for difficult cases; mental health support for exhausted administrative staff and supporters,such as supporters for temporary housing; and support to supplement the shortage of professional human resources inmunicipalities.
※ Emergency (container-type) temporary housing is referred to as “emergency,” and apartment-type rental housing is referred to as “private rental”
below.
※ Tabulation work is conducted using our own business statistics system. In cases where a response was provided by multiple staff members, thesame activity is tabulated as a single case.

[Resident Support]
9,000
6,437
cases

6,000

7,589
cases

7,135
cases

6,236
cases

6,671
cases

7,121
cases

6,366
cases

6,191
cases

5,964
cases

3,853
cases

3,000

2,716
cases

0
Interview
counselling

Telephonecounseling

Resident Support (total number of cases)

Fiscal year

2012
(H24)

2013
(H25)

2014
(H26)

2015
(H27)

2016
(H28)

2017
(H29)

2018
(H30)

2019
(R1)

2020
(R2)

2021
(R3)

2022
(R4)

Interview
counseling (cases)
Telephonecounseling (cases)

4,492

4,926

5,569

5,921

4,828

4,990

4,419

4,047

3,793

2,752

1,812

1,945

1,310

1,566

1,668

1,843

2,131

1,947

1,917

2,398

1,101

904

Health surveys of tenants in emergency/private rental and public housing installed in Miyagi Prefecture, support forindividuals who required follow-up based on results of various health surveys conducted in municipalities, etc.
[Raising Public Awareness]
600

6,000
4,545
people400

4,511
people3,814
people3,489
people3,526
people3,673
people3,466people

200

0

4,000

3,173 people

2,000
1,086 people
295 cases

97 cases

396 cases

378 cases

379 cases

399 cases

Number of cases

405 cases

415 cases

337 cases

859 people 736 people
213 cases

230 cases

0

Number of participants

Raising Public AwarenessFiscal year
Number of cases
Number ofparticipants (people)

2012
(H24)

2013
(H25)

2014
(H26)

2015
(H27)

2016
(H28)

2017
(H29)

2018
(H30)

2019
(R1)

2020
(R2)

2021
(R3)

2022
(R4)

97

295

396

378

379

399

405

415

337

218

230

3,5263,489

4,545

4,511

3,814

3,673

3,466

3,173

1,086

859

736

Dissemination of information and public awareness of mental health◇Salon activities, training for raising public awareness, mental health counseling service booths,etc.

−5−[Support for Supporters]

1,862 1,915
cases cases

2,000

1,606
cases

1,052
cases

1,000

1,549 1,492
cases cases 1,390
cases 1,183
cases

839
cases

607
cases

299
cases

0

Support for supporters
Fiscal year

2012
(H24)

2013
(H25)

2014
(H26)

2015
(H27)

2016
(H28)

2017
(H29)

2018
(H30)

2019
(R1)2020
(R2)

2021
(R3)

2022
(R4)

Number of cases

1,052

1,862

1,915

1,606

1,549

1,492

1,390

1,183

839

607

299

Support for supporters such as municipal staff and supporters of temporary housing with the aim of providing mental
health activities as well as maintaining physical and mental health[Human resource development] Until FY 2020

500

10,0009,934 people

8,000

400
5,505 people 5,552 people 5,696 people 5,398 people 5,668 people 5,417 people 5,390 people

300

6,000

200

4,000
1,780 people

100
0283 cases167 cases

171 cases

159 cases

152 cases

Number of cases

172 cases

136 cases

133 cases

88 cases

2,0000

Number of participants

Human Resource Development
Fiscal year
Number of cases
Number ofparticipants (people)

2012
(H24)

2013
(H25)

2014
(H26)

2015
(H27)

2016
(H28)

2017
(H29)

2018
(H30)

2019
(R1)

2020
(R2)

283

167

171

159

152

172

136

133

88

9,934

5,505

5,552

5,696

5,398

5,668

5,417

5,390

1,780

Dissemination of knowledge and training for professionals and supporters involved in mental health◇ Support skills training for administrative officials, supporters for temporary housing, educators; training foraddiction-related problems and other issues−6−Characteristics of each center
Stem CenterIshinomaki Regional Center

Oversees municipalities in the Shiogama HealthCenter and Iwanuma Branch areas, andresponds to issues according to individual
reconstruction situations and needs while
sharing issues with municipalities and healthcenters

The areas overseen by the Ishinomaki Public
Health Center are Ishinomaki City,
Higashimatsushima City, and Onagawa Town,
and the entire area is a disaster-affected area.
There is an increasing need to share issues
with related institutions and provide support
while also actively collaborating.

● We respond to requests for support from motherswith mental health issues by working withmunicipal staff members and conducting visits.

● Support for supporters efforts include active
participation in difficult case study meetings andsupporter meetings.

● We conduct the “Utsukushima Salon” once amonth for people who relocated from Fukushima
Prefecture to the surrounding areas of Iwanuma
City following the earthquake.

● We strive to respond to requests from publichealth centers, municipalities, and other institutions
to the extent possible. We conduct health surveys,
counseling for parents raising children, support forchild supporters, and accompanied visits.

●We conduct “Children’s psychological first-aidtraining” (PFA training) for disseminating basic
methods for psychological support in the event of adisaster or emergency.

● We provide support for Danshukai activities.

Kesennuma Regional Center
The entire area has been affected by thedisaster. There has been a shortage of mental
health care professionals since prior to theearthquake and this has become an even more
serious issue after the earthquake. This Centeris recognized as an institution that can handle
individual counseling for residents, and thenumber of consultations remains high.
● Individual consultations have increased in
number for children and working-age people intheir 20s through 40s.
● Consultation contents are often multifaceted andcomplicated, requiring continuous support.

Children’s Mental Health Care Community Base Project From FY 2016 to FY 2020

(Number of cases)

Fiscal year 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
① Consultation projectConsultations 230281

330373431② Professional dispatch

Number oftimes234266

309

229262③ Training project

Number oftimes

4351

40

47

31

④ Dissemination/publicawareness project

Number oftimes

42

320

4⑤ Research projectStudies221194−7−

Visits, walk-in, telephone counseling forchildren, family, supporters
Child psychiatrists, clinical psychologists,
etc, dispatched to municipalities, schools,nursery centers, etc.; consultations for staff
Holding workshops; dispatching instructors
to training conducted by municipalities,
nursery centers, etc.
Cooperating with dissemination ofinformation in pamphlets and publicrelations magazines on children’s mental
health, salons, etc.
Longitudinal support study for children
born after the Great East Japan Earthquake
and their families (Michinoku Children’sCohort Study)