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Report by the JDF Iwate Headquarters for Supporting Persons with Disabilities Affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake

JDF Iwate Headquarters for Supporting Persons with Disabilities Affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake

 

The JDF Iwate Headquarters for Supporting Persons with Disabilities Affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake (JDF Iwate) was established on September 22, 2011, which was quite late considering when similar organizations were established in the three prefectures hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake.

One month after the earthquake, the Japan Disability Forum (JDF) visited Iwate and sounded us out about undertaking activities in order to provide unified support for the three prefectures hit by the disaster. At that time, however, various non-governmental disability organizations and their supporting organizations launched a project team under the Persons with Disabilities Welfare Council of the Iwate Social Welfare Council. The project team was later reorganized into the Council on a Platform to Promote Support Activities for Persons with Disabilities Affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake (referred to below as the Platform), which undertook activities.

The Iwate Welfare Association for Persons with Physical Disabilities, which later serves as the secretariat of JDF Iwate, also joined the Platform. Because restructuring the organization of the Iwate Welfare Association itself was an urgent matter, it took time to establish JDF Iwate. However, through the participation in national level efforts such as the “JDF Great Forum” held in October 28, 2011, our awareness grew that unified support activities in the three prefectures hit by the disaster through cooperation with numerous bodies were extremely important for future activities. Based on such awareness, JDF Iwate was established with more than twenty organizations of/for persons with disabilities in Iwate.

Many organizations continued to conduct their own operations in the prefecture while collaborating with JDF Iwate, and we respected their activities. The efforts of the various organizations were coordinated with JDF Iwate serving as the center for information sharing, while confirming that each of the member organizations continues its independent activities mutually.

In this way, support organizations in the prefecture expanded their efforts while working with each other, and even though one year after the earthquake, the need for emergency support declined, member organizations noted that there was a need for activities to eliminate the gaps between areas and from a long-term perspective.

Because the hub of Iwate's administrative organizations are located inland, there were time constraints on providing support in coastal regions (which are far away from inland), and to resolve this issue, support centers were formed, mainly in coastal towns.

These are the Miyako Center for Persons with Disabilities in the Disaster Area, Kamaishi Center for Persons with Disabilities in the Disaster Area, and Ofunato Center for Persons With Disabilities in the Disaster Area, and they undertake activities that reflect the current conditions in the particular area.

However, Rikuzentakata-shi (the City of Rikuzentakata) was one coastal city that lacked a support center for persons with disabilities, and there were various reports that this placed extreme time and labor constraints on support that could be provided for the daily lives of persons with disabilities, such as hospital visits and shopping. Thus the JDF Iwate Support Center was established in Rikuzentakata-shi on April 19, 2012, as a base for support activities of JDF Iwate.

After the JDF Iwate headquarters approved the opening of the center at its meetings in November 2011, numerous preliminary discussions were held with Rikuzentakata-shi between February and March 2012, and checks were made of requests for cooperation related to various items including JDF Iwate Support Center's project plan and survey activities, all of which occurred before the center opened.

Therefore, when the center opened, it received the full understanding and cooperation of Rikuzentakata-shi; in particular, a memorandum of understanding was signed regarding providing the necessary information to ascertain the actual conditions of persons with disabilities. I am sure that this understanding and cooperation will be extremely important for future efforts related to support for persons with disabilities.

This report covers the activities undertaken by JDF Iwate, but it should be understood that these activities account for only a small part of the support activities provided to persons with disabilities in Iwate.

Of course, support for persons with disabilities following an unprecedented disaster should be undertaken within the integrated response of the central and local governments, and it is important that the activities of persons with disabilities themselves and support organizations supplement the activities of the central and local governments, that required advice is provided, that checks are made, and that these activities are actively undertaken if necessary.

Support for persons with disabilities in Iwate are truly based on this perspective. At the same time, through the process of establishing JDF Iwate, I came to understand how the role to be played by JDF is important in promoting integrated support in the three prefectures hit by the disaster.

While the various organizations that make up JDF Iwate undertake support activities while respecting each other's individual activities, it is probably important to move forward with several efforts, such as providing advice for the reconstruction plans/efforts of relevant authorities that will play a long-term role, and reflecting the opinion of affected persons with disabilities in ̶Measures related to Persons Requiring Aid in Emergencies” and “Disaster Response Manual for Persons with Disabilities”.

It goes without saying that the most important point is reconstructing and reinforcing the independence of persons with disabilities and their organizations. We hope that JDF will continue to play a role so that the extensive partnerships it has built up through its various efforts, such as promoting reforms to systems impacting persons with disabilities, can be used even in local communities and so that, that partnership can be extended to all other prefectures.

Activities of JDF Iwate Support Center

The Japan Disability Forum (JDF) established the JDF Iwate Headquarters for Supporting Persons with Disabilities Affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake on September 22, 2011, and opened the JDF Iwate Support Center on April 17, 2012, in Rikuzentakata-shi (the City of Rikuzentakata).

The support center conducts the following activities in cooperation with various other organizations including the municipal government; related bodies in the city, prefecture, and other prefectures; and other support offices.

1. Support for the daily lives of persons with disabilities, etc.

  • Providing transportation (hospital visits, shopping, etc.), support for day/leisure activities, and direct support, including accompanied assistance, etc.
  • Meeting the various needs of persons with disabilities, particularly emergency needs, and those not fully covered by public support
  • Providing support to a wide range of parties, whether they possess a certificate for persons with disabilities or not (including children, families, elderly, etc.)
  • Linking needs uncovered during our work to social resources, including local governments, social welfare councils, and disability support offices.

Support for the daily lives of persons with disabilities, etc.

The following is what we have actually accomplished recently.

  Persons with disabilities Elderly
Hospital visits Shopping Other Total Hospital visits Shopping Other Total
April 6 3 9 18 0 0 58 58
May 25 7 37 69 6 0 42 48
June 32 6 35 73 5 0 44 49
July 57 15 39 111 1 0 68 69
August 76 11 34 121 19 0 27 46
Total 196 42 154 392 31 0 239 270
Number of support cases from April to August 31, 2011: 662

A large number of people struggle to get around and cannot even get to hospital visits because public transportation has not been sufficiently restored. In Rikuzentakata-shi, even people living far from the city center could visit hospitals if they could get to the Japan Railway station. However, that option is no longer available, and it costs 10,000 - 15,000 yen to take a taxi to the Iwate Prefectural Ofunato Hospital, which the majority of people use. This is beyond the means of persons living on a pension.

Therefore, we receive many requests for support not only from persons with disabilities themselves and their families but also neighbors and home nursing service providers.

However, since there are limits to what the center can provide on account of the size of its staff and number of cars it has, priority is given to emergency cases, such as people who cannot afford the transportation and those who cannot receive help from families, etc.

Although there are times that we receive requests from parties such as local care managers, as a general rule, we only provide support to people who have applied for nursing insurance and do not have a helper and those in households receiving public assistance or are exempt from paying taxes.

However, when a person seeks advice, there are many situations when we cannot see what situation the person is in. In that case, we tentatively provide the service to the person supposing that the request for support is a cry for help. If we can check conditions during the first visit and the necessary support can be provided, we connect the person with related organization.

Additional Notes in December 2012

Use of support for daily life

As for support for daily lives, the center handles on average seven people (fourteen cases) each day. The figures are the same as when support staff from other organizations were present earlier, and efforts are made to improve efficiency, which includes providing support for multiple people all at once.

Looking at what type of support is provided reveals that support mainly consists of providing transportation for hospital visits, and taking people to school when requested by related organizations in Rikuzentakata-shi.

The center does what it can with its limited staff and gives priority to certain requests such as those related to hospital visits.

Future

It has been decided that we will continue to provide support for the daily lives of persons with disabilities while regularly exchanging opinions and discussing how things should develop with officials from Rikuzentakata-shi.
We work with related organizations to handle aspects of a request for support that can be met with formal services. As for aspects that cannot be handled with formal services, discussions are held to link them to future measures by using JDF support data to design new government systems and having the center operate the systems on a trial basis to verify their effectiveness.

2. Home-visit survey of persons with disabilities in Rikuzentakata-shi

In response to a request by Rikuzentakata-shi, the Japan Disability Forum (JDF) conducted a home-visit survey of all persons with disabilities in the city.

The preliminary report was submitted to the mayor of Rikuzentakata-shi Futoshi Toba at the temporary city offices on January 11, 2012.

The preliminary report was submitted to the mayor of Rikuzentakata-shi Futoshi Toba.

[The survey]

In July 2011, the condition of persons with disabilities was checked through visits by public health nurses to all households, and in January 2012, the safety of persons with a certificate for persons with disabilities was confirmed. The current conditions (where they are, etc.) for some people are still unknown, and it is necessary to determine various things, such as if they would like to register as persons requiring aid during a disaster. During informal discussions with the city, JDF received a request from the city to conduct such a survey, and this is the one that was conducted.

(1) Purpose

To ascertain the current conditions of persons with disabilities, etc., more than one year after the Great East Japan Earthquake and to resolve issues related to needs uncovered during the survey by sharing the information with city workers and related organizations. The primary purpose of the survey is to ascertain emergency needs; the secondary purpose is to obtain basic material for administrative services for persons with disabilities, including reconstruction; and the tertiary purpose is to gather basic information for creating a disaster prevention plan for persons with disabilities.

(2) Organization conducting survey: Japan Disability Forum (JDF)

∗ The survey was conducted in collaboration and partnership with various bodies including Rikuzentakata-shi and the Iwate Reconstruction Center for the Welfare of Persons with Disabilities (center for the Kesen area).

(3) Survey dates: July 6 - November 12, 2012 (including preliminary survey)

(4) Survey target: 1,357 persons with certificates for persons with disabilities and users of independent support medical services in Rikuzentakata-shi

∗ 1,021 people were interviewed during the home visits. (the results are based on the responses provided by 1,016 people, since although the whereabouts of 5 people were known, they were either hospitalized or refused to answer the survey.)

(5) Survey method: interview during visit

(6) Main items covered in the survey

The survey focused on three broad issues: (a) life after evacuating following the earthquake, (b) current living conditions and needs, (c) future response in the case of a disaster.

(7) Conducting the survey

Teams were made of people affiliated with JDF (survey staff were sent from throughout Japan), JDF Iwate Support Center staff, and Iwate Reconstruction Center for the Welfare of Persons with Disabilities (center for the Kesen area) partners. As a general rule, each team consisted of two people, who conducted the survey. The groups took turns, with one group working for one week, and overall 531 people worked on conducting the survey (105 Reconstruction Center staff and 426 JDF survey takers)

(8) Outline of survey results

See the attached material shown on this page. (link)
Outline of the Rikuzentakata-shi Fact-finding Survey on Support For Persons Requiring Help During a Disaster

Home-visit Survey.

Home-visit Survey.

3. Outlook - developing resources that will remain in the local area

The objective of Support Center activities is to support persons with disabilities affected by the earthquake who still need immediate support and to make contributions toward long-term reconstruction that deepen the roots of social resources that support persons with disabilities in the local area by working in collaboration with organizations such as local disability organizations, support offices, and related bodies.

As for future activities, using data on support for people's daily lives and the results of the survey, discussions will be held with the city regarding the best way for persons with disabilities and the elderly to live locally, and we will confirm that a response for aspects that cannot be covered with current welfare services for persons with disabilities and nursing welfare services, are developed in cooperation with government workers.

We would like to undertake activities that make it possible to leave the resources built up through this collaboration, such as network, services, and human resources, in a form that local residents can easily use even after the Support Center's activities finally ended.

Outline of the Rikuzentakata-shi Fact-finding Survey on Support For Persons Requiring Help During a Disaster

1. Survey respondents

Broken down by sex, 533 respondents (52.5%) are men, and 483 respondents (47.5%) are women. In terms of type of disability, 707 respondents (69.6%) have a physical disability; 183 respondents (18.0%), an intellectual disability; 102 respondents (10.0%), a psychosocial disability; and 25 respondents (2.4%), multiple disabilities. Broken down by age, 550 respondents (54.1%), more than half, are 65 or older; 425 respondents (41.8%), 19 - 64; and 41 respondents (4.1%), 1 - 18.

Of the 1,016 respondents, 550 are elderly persons with disabilities (65 years or older). This means that 56% of respondents are elderly. This is extremely high compared to the 34.9% of the overall population of Rikuzentakata-shi that is 65 or older. In particular, among the 707 respondents with physical disabilities, 517 (73.1%) were 65 or older.

Sex Number of respondents
Male 533 52.5
Female 483 47.5

 

Age Number of respondents
1 - 18 41 4.1
19 - 64 425 41.8
65 or older 550 54.1
Total 1016 100.0

 

Age
Sex
1 - 18 19 - 64 65 or older  
Number of
respondents
Sex (%) Age (%) Number of
respondents
Sex (%) Age (%) Number of
respondents
Sex (%) Age (%) Total
Men 33 80.5 6.2 248 58.4 46.5 252 45.8 47.3 533
Women 8 19.5 1.7 177 41.6 36.6 298 54.2 61.7 483
Total 41 100.0 4.1 425 100.0 41.8 550 100.0 54.1 1016

 

2. How information on evacuating was obtained and guidance when evacuating (multiple responses)

When asked about how they obtained information on evacuating, 182 people (20.6%) said from government emergency wireless system 134 people (15.2%), welfare service provider; 126 people (14.3%), neighbor; and 123 people (13.9%) from family member or relative. In addition, 32 people (3.6%) stated that they obtained evacuation information from the radio; 26 people (2.9%), police or fire department; 15 people (1.7%), TV; and 4 people (0.5%), local government worker. When asked about receiving guidance when evacuating, 163 people (21.6%) responded that they received guidance from a family member or relative; 133 people (17.6%), a welfare service provider; and 76 people (10.1%), a neighbor.

3. Whether people evacuated or not

Among respondents, 527 people (51.9%) evacuated while 409 people (40.2%) did not evacuate. Of people who did not evacuate, 12 people said that even if they wanted to evacuate, they could not. The details of these responses are provided below.

(1) Location of residence: Yahagi-cho: 2 people

Type of disability: physical (internal, body/limbs)

Reason for not being able to evacuate: They have difficulty walking.

They live on a mountain side that does not get hit by tsunamis. At the time of the 2008 Iwate/Miyagi Inland Earthquake, there were numerous sector collapses and landslides in Iwate, resulting in 23 people dying or being listed as missing and 426 people sustaining minor injuries. Because of this experience, it can be assumed that even on the mountain side, which was also hit by the violent shaking of the recent earthquake, some people may have felt their lives were in danger.

One of these two people now lives in a valley surrounded by mountains.

(2) Location of residence: Yokota-cho: 2 people

Type of disability: physical (internal, vision)

Reason for not being able to evacuate: Both people did not obtain information on evacuating.

Both people live in an area that it is assumed would not sustain damage from a tsunami since it is rather far from the sea. One of them lives along a river, and the tsunami flowed upstream to the point where is about 500 m down from the residence. However, this was not expected at that time.

It is a bit worrying that both people did not obtain information on evacuating (disaster).

(3) Takekoma-cho 1 person

Type of disability: physical (body/limbs); required care level 5

Reason for not being able to evacuate: The person has difficulty getting around.

The person chose to stay at home since he cannot move and lives in an area that would not get hit by the tsunami.

(4) Kesen-cho 1 person

Type of disability: psychosocial

Reason for not being able to evacuate: The person has difficulty getting around (elderly nursing the elderly)

They could not evacuate since they lacked the physical strength to do so because of anorexia. The mother (74 at the time) who lives in the same house evacuated to higher ground with the grandmother (85 at the time) Since the house is less than 100 m above sea level, the house was flooded below the floor.

(5) Takata-cho 2 people

Type of disability: physical (limbs, trunk)

Reason for not being able to evacuate: They have difficulty getting around (there was no caregiver, and the household is one in which an elderly member is caring for another elderly member).

For one person, it was because she cannot walk on her own, and for the other person, it was because a caregiver cannot help multiple people. Both live on high ground, but the tsunami reached within several hundred meters of each of their homes. It appears that it was physically difficult to evacuate because there was no caregiver and multiple people in a household of elderly people were receiving nursing services, such as households where an elderly person is caring for another elderly person.

(6) Yonesaki-cho 2 people

Type of disability: physical (hearing, body/limbs)

Reason for not being able to evacuate: They did not get enough information and have difficulty getting around (no caregiver was present).

Both live in an area that does not flood, but the tsunami came to within several hundred meters of their homes. The person with a hearing impairment did not obtain the information to evacuate. The person who has problems moving his limbs is 81 years old and lives alone; nobody came until a neighbor visited the day after the disaster.

(7) Hirota-cho 2 people

Type of disability: physical (hearing, vision)

Reason for not being able to evacuate: They have difficulty getting around (elderly person was caring for another elderly person, and there was no caregiver).

Both of them live near the ocean on the peninsula. The person with impaired hearing lives on the boarder of the area that floods, and since the elderly lady cares for her bed-ridden elderly husband, she could not evacuate. The person with impaired vision lives on high land, but the family member he lives with was hospitalized so he was left alone.

4. Need for support for living and medical treatment at the current time (determined by survey taker)

Among people who took part in the survey, 162 were judged to need some form of support. For people that were judged to need emergency support, a response is being worked out in consultation with the city. It is thought that 147 people still need this type of support.

5. Whether support was provided or consideration was given when evacuating and where the person stayed after evacuating

When asked about support when evacuating, 350 people (32.9%) said someone drove them (general car), 243 people (22.9%) received help from a person such as caregiver, and 75 people (7.1%) were driven in a welfare vehicle. In regard to special consideration where the person stayed after evacuating, 501 people (30.0%) received such consideration related to medical treatment; 448 (26.8%), consideration for daily life; and 279 (16.7%), consideration for getting around.

6. Registering as a person requiring aid during a disaster and the release of information during an emergency

When asked about registering as a person requiring aid during a disaster, 701 people (69.0%) gave their approval, 173 people (17.0%) did not give their approval or it was not clear, and 142 people (14.0%) did not give a response. As for releasing information during an emergency, 728 people (71.7%) gave their approval, 142 people (14.0%) did not give their approval or it was not clear, and 146 people (14.4%) did not give a response. (Related information is given below.)

7. Issues gleamed from the survey

(1) Graying of society

It is necessary to examine the problem of persons with disabilities in Rikuzentakata-shi from the same perspective as that for the graying of society. In Rikuzentakata-shi, 34.9% of the population (as or 2012) is at least 65 years old, which is 7.7 percentage points greater than the average of 27.2% for Iwate. In lights of this, too, measures related to the graying of society will take a prominent position in the future reconstruction of Rikuzentakata-shi, and it is important that these measures also take into consideration the perspectives of persons with disabilities.

(2) Obtaining information to evacuate and the evacuation route

A lot is expected of welfare service providers during an emergency, and it is important to reexamine the best way to provide support. Consideration must be given to the unique requirements of each disability. Persons with disabilities must take part in planning in order to increase the effectiveness of the measures.

(3) Strong need for transportation support

Demand was strongest for support related to transportation for hospital visits, shopping, and getting to school. A limited number of people make use of the helper nursing taxi and volunteer organizations such as Michinoku Eisei No Kai and the JDF Iwate Support Center. Many people have difficulties on account of their disability and need special consideration, and there is a need for transportation support services, which local governments should take responsibility for and provide.

(4) Registering for the list of people requiring aid during a disaster and releasing information on the list

Although there was no direct question regarding to what extent people know about the list of people requiring aid during a disaster, some responses were received when conducting the survey. When asked about registering for the list of people requiring aid during a disaster and releasing information, approximately 70% of respondents gave their approval for both. Among people who do not approve or are not sure, some were hesitant to give their approval since “they have to talk with their families” or “it is not necessary now but may become necessary in the future.” There is also a need to create a system to regularly check on issues such as changes in the person and families. At the same time, it is important to develop a mechanism for residents to communicate information.