Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T23:57:04.507Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Impact of Heavy Snowfall on Home Care: A 2018 Case Study in Fukui City, Japan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2020

Hirotomo Miyatake Open the ORCID record for Hirotomo Miyatake [Opens in a new window] ,
Akihiko Ozaki ,
Yoshitaka Nishikawa ,
Hidehisa Masunaga ,
Satoshi Arita  and
Hiroyuki Beniya
Hirotomo Miyatake*
Affiliation:
Orange Home-Care Clinic, Fukui, Japan
Akihiko Ozaki
Affiliation:
Medical Governance Research Institute, Tokyo, Japan Department of Breast Surgery, Jyoban Hospital of Tokiwa Foundation, Fukushima, Japan
Yoshitaka Nishikawa
Affiliation:
Department of Health Informatics, Kyoto University School of Public Health, Kyoto, Japan
Hidehisa Masunaga
Affiliation:
Orange Home-Care Clinic, Fukui, Japan
Satoshi Arita
Affiliation:
Orange Home-Care Clinic, Fukui, Japan
Hiroyuki Beniya
Affiliation:
Orange Home-Care Clinic, Fukui, Japan
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Hirotomo Miyatake, MD, Orange Home-Care Clinic, Fukui910-0018, Japan (e-mail: [email protected], telephone: +81-776-21-3333, fax: +81-775-21-3353).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objective:

Little is known regarding how home care is affected by extreme weather. In February 2018, Fukui City in Japan experienced unprecedented levels of snowfall. We examined snowfall impact on the provision of home care to elucidate whether patients incurred any harm.

Methods:

A retrospective observational study using clinical and administrative records from a clinic in Fukui City was conducted on 294 patients (mean age = 69.9 ± 27.7 years; women = 60.5%, median age = 81). The study period was from February 5 to February 18, 2018. We analysed the patients’ characteristics, daily trend of planned/actual patient visits, emergency transportation situations, and local snow accumulation. We summarized the situation in the clinic.

Results:

There were 326 planned home visits, however only 121 (37%) occurred. Despite this, there were only 2 emergency transfers. Although the available clinical staff was limited, they managed to contact most patients via telephone and social networking services.

Conclusion:

Although the number of home visits dramatically decreased, the number of emergency transfers did not increase. This study therefore highlights the necessity for effective disaster preparation, such as assessment training, or use of telemedicine, and on-site decision-making to maintain home care during disasters.

Keywords

extreme weatherhome caresocial networking
Type
Brief Report
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 16 , Issue 2 , April 2022 , pp. 468 - 472
Copyright
© 2020 Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

GBD Disease Injury Incidence Prevalence Collaborators. Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 354 diseases and injuries for 195 countries and territories, 1990-2017: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Lancet. 2018;392(10159):1789-1858.Google Scholar
Dixon, S, Nancarrow, SA, Enderby, PM, Moran, AM, Parker, SG. Assessing patient preferences for the delivery of different community-based models of care using a discrete choice experiment. Health Expect. 2015;18(5):1204-1214.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kinjo, K, Sairenji, T, Koga, H, et al. Cost of physician-led home visit care (Zaitaku care) compared with hospital care at the end of life in Japan. BMC Health Serv Res. 2017;17(1):40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nomura, S, Sakamoto, H, Glenn, S, et al. Population health and regional variations of disease burden in Japan, 1990-2015: A systematic subnational analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015. Lancet. 2017;390(10101):1521-1538.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ainehvand, S, Raeissi, P, Ravaghi, H, Maleki, M. Natural disasters and challenges toward achieving food security response in Iran. J Educ Health Promot. 2019;8:51.Google ScholarPubMed
Ozaki, A, Horiuchi, S, Kobayashi, Y, et al. Beneficial Roles of Social Support for Mental Health Vary in the Japanese Population depending on Disaster Experience: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study. Tohoku J Exp Med. 2018;246(4):213-223.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Forzieri, G, Cescatti, A, FB ES, Feyen L. Increasing risk over time of weather-related hazards to the European population: A data-driven prognostic study. Lancet Planet Health. 2017;1(5):200-208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Collection of regional data for health care in Japan (in Japanese); 2018. https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/0000061944.html. Accessed September 29, 2019.Google Scholar
Japan Meteorological Agency. Data on daily snow accumulation of Fukui city in Japan (in Japanese); 2018. http://www.data.jma.go.jp/obd/stats/etrn/view/daily_s1.php?prec_no=57&block_no=47616&year=2018&month=02&day=16&view=a4/. Accessed September 29, 2019.Google Scholar
Miyatake, H, Yamamoto, K, Ozaki, A, Kawada, S, Nishikawa, Y, Beniya, H. Extreme snowfall and residential care: A case report of a 2-year-old girl with heart failure. Clin Case Rep. 2020;8(6):950-954.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nishikawa, Y, Ozawa, Y, Tsubokura, M, et al. Long-term vulnerability of access to hemodialysis facilities in repopulated areas after the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster: a case report. Oxf Med Case Reports. 2018;2018(7):omy040.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Public health impact of a snow disaster. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 1982;31(51):695-696.Google Scholar
Glass, RI, O’Hare, P, Conrad, JL. Health consequences of the snow disaster in Massachusetts, February 6, 1978. Am J Public Health. 1979;69(10):1047-1049.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Supplementary material: File

Miyatake et al. supplementary material

Miyatake et al. supplementary material 1

Download Miyatake et al. supplementary material(File)
File 18.7 KB
Supplementary material: File

Miyatake et al. supplementary material

Miyatake et al. supplementary material 2

Download Miyatake et al. supplementary material(File)
File 16.3 KB
Supplementary material: File

Miyatake et al. supplementary material

Miyatake et al. supplementary material 3

Download Miyatake et al. supplementary material(File)
File 21.3 KB
Supplementary material: File

Miyatake et al. supplementary material

Miyatake et al. supplementary material 4

Download Miyatake et al. supplementary material(File)
File 20.4 KB