Leveraging Public Health Nurses for Disaster Risk Communication in Fukushima City: A Qualitative Analysis of Nurses’ Written Records of Parenting Counseling and Peer Discussions

Experience from past nuclear accidents shows that poor risk communication increases uncertainty and panic among the public [1], which has also been observed after the Fukushima nuclear disaster that occurred on March 11, 2011 following the Great East Japan Earthquake. The central government of Japan failed to inform the municipal governments of the occurrence and severity of the incident in a timely manner, leading to chaotic migrations among residents, and eventually causing excess mortality among vulnerable populations such as the institutionalized elderly [2,3]. Mothers of young children are among the most-affected in the Fukushima nuclear incident, as inconsistent information about radiation levels in breast milk posted by two different professional organizations (the Japanese Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Japan Radiological Society) had further created high levels of confusion in terms of maintaining safety for their children [4].