Abstract
This study was performed to determine the mental effects on individuals working as volunteers after the Great East Japan Earthquake associated with support activities (mainly mental health-care and distribution of boiled rice and so on in the shelter) in Ofunato throughout the months of the end of April until the end of May, 2011. A questionnaire was conducted among 101 volunteers who were involved in teams for support activities formed by a private hospital. The results were as follows: 1) Professional Quality of Life (Pro QOL) assessing compassion satisfaction, burnout, and fatigue or secondary trauma showed that none were at high risk. 2) Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) evaluating re-experience, avoidance, and hyper arousal, which are diagnostic criteria of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, showed that only eight participants had high-risk status and most had no secondary trauma reaction. 3) Posttraumatic Growth Inventory-Japanese (PTGI-J) measuring the degree of posttraumatic growth indicated positive psychological effects and mental status of growth was attained. The above results suggested that team involvement in support activities, psychoeducation before actual activities, as well as “family support,” “individual support,” “recreation,” and “teamwork” contributed to positive mental growth as well as reducing the negative effects of these activities.
