Outreach is a form of support that cares for people who need support not to “wait” at hospitals or specialized institutions, but to “go to meet” in the community or place of life. Kokogake provides mental health support that pays attention to all aspects of daily life in collaboration with the government, medical institutions, support organizations, and companies, utilizing the expertise and ICT of members composed of many occupations.
1. Support for outreach-type mental health, not “waiting” at the hospital, but “going to meet” at the place of life
According to the needs of local residents, psychiatrist, psychiatric nurse, clinical psychology,
multi-professional members, such as a mentor or mental health worker, conduct a multi-professional outreach.
Outreach support for “going to see” to the place of life is not psychiatric, instead of the traditional style of “waiting” for hospitals and specialized institutions to visit those who need mental care It is easy to access for those who have stigma for medical care and those who feel that the threshold is high, leading to an early prevention of symptom deterioration. In addition, by utilizing each member's expertise, comprehensive support across fields such as medical care, health care, nursing care and welfare becomes possible.
2. Mental health support on the premise of full life support
Mental health care issues in the affected areas cannot be solved by short-term support from psychiatric personnel alone.We realized that as we entered the field in November 2011 and continued our activities.
Restoring the territory, blood, and occupation that was divided by the Great East Japan Earthquake is an indispensable task for “reconstruction of the heart”. To that end, we believe that long-term and continuous efforts that focus on “support for all lives” are necessary while sharing information and issues with specialists not only in mental health but also in various fields.
3. `` Smart outreach '' using ICT
Our activities are “delivery-type” support where multi-specialist specialists scattered throughout the country take turns. The time required to move from remote areas to Otsuchi is tremendous, and in order to continue long-term support, a solution to overcome these times and distances is an issue.
At Kokorogake, we are actively utilizing ICT such as the Internet and information and communication equipment.Use a computer or tablet for regular activity report meetings.Utilization of these ICTs strongly supports our outreach support from remote areas, and we believe that it will be extremely useful for the initial support of major disasters that may occur in the future.