The Fukushima nuclear accident caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, illustrated the complexity of community supports in a health crisis. In this talk, you will learn discussions and resulting short and long-term strategies developed from collaborative efforts among local health professionals. Immediately after the disaster, we found that differences in people’s risk perception about radiation were associated with lower maternal confidence. Inferring that a root cause of radiation concern was difficulty understanding pertinent information, we started health literacy training for health professionals to better bridge science and community. We are expanding the scope of our activities to support children as agents in their communities.  

(References; Disasters. 2014; 38 Suppl 2: s179-s189. Journal of Communication in Healthcare. 2014; 7: 106-116. Journal of Health Communication. 2018; 23: 200-206. JMA Journal. 2020; 3: 67-72.) 

Aya Goto is a professor of health information and epidemiology at Fukushima Medical University Center for Integrated Science and Humanities. She also serves as professor of international community health of the Graduate School of Medicine. She completed her medical degree and PhD degree from Yamagata University, Faculty of Medicine; MPH degree from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and was a Takemi Fellow in International Health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health from 2012 to 2013.  Dr. Goto’s main research interests are reproductive health, parenting support, and health literacy. Her translational research has been conducted in close collaboration with local communities in Fukushima and Ho Chi Minh City and is combined with the capacity building of local health care professionals in health information as well as maternal and child health care. Since the Fukushima nuclear accident, Dr. Goto has been working closely with local public health nurses helping them respond appropriately to concerns among parents of small children about elevated background radiation. Recently, she started working with children in disaster-prone Asian countries toward health promotion and community development.