program book

Human Dignity in Modern MedicineEffectiveness of health consultation activities for homeless clientsHiroko Shimizu 1,2,3,4,7) • Jun Sano 1,2,5,7) • Buichi Ishijima 1,2,7) • Yoshihiko Mizuno 1,2,6,7) • MichikoYamaguchi 1,3,7) • Mikiko Kotachi 1,7) • Ai Shimizu 1,8)1) Catholic Ikebukuro Doctors and Nurses Association 2) Japan Catholic Medical Association3) Japan Catholic Nurses Association 4) Faculty of Health Sciences, Tokyo MetropolitanUniversity 5) Sainte Odile home 6) Mizuno Medical Clinic 7) NPO TENOHASHI8) National Cancer Center HospitalAddress: Tokyo, Japan.An estimated 20,000 homeless persons are said to be living in public places such as parks orrailway stations in Japan. Although government agencies are assisting them in finding jobs,it is difficult because approximately 50% of them have health problems that interfere withemployability. In collaboration with other non-profit organizations (NPOs), we conducted healthconsultations twice a month in Ikebukuro Park in Tokyo. The consultations included physicalexaminations, providing medications, writing referrals to hospitals, introductions to welfareagencies, counseling and health advice. The average number of consultations at each visit was30.4. They were mostly men with the mean age of 58.1 years. Their most frequent complaints werecommon colds, abdominal pain and headaches. Their average blood pressure was 148±26/94±17mmHg, slightly higher than the norm.Using a questionnaire, we conducted a survey to investigate their mental health problems, duringOctober, 2007. The results indicated a higher incidence of despair, associated with avolition and afeeling of hopelessness, than in the general population.Discussion: The high incidence of despair can be attributed to loneliness resulting from difficultiesmaking relationships with others, especially with their families. At the health consultations, weAsian Federation Of Catholic Medical Associations 14 th AFCMA Congress 2008Abstracts of Free Paper Session / Poster Presentataion / Country Report39