2021 Volume 41 Pages 494-502
Objective: This study aimed to describe the significances of the post disaster long-term experiences as child survivors of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake of 1995 through an understanding of the diverse life stories of those who had been affected by the Earthquake when they were in the higher grades of elementary school and have lived since then without medical intervention.
Methods: Face-to-face interviews were conducted with four participants from June 2017 to September 2018, and a thematic analysis was made to generate core themes expressing commonalities among the experiences of the participants.
Results: Five common core themes were identified as the significances of the post disaster long-term experiences as child survivors: <Searching for a safe and secure place of their own>, <Developing a perspective on life and death>, <Suppressing disclosure of the disaster experience while trying to blend into society>, <Facing the disaster experience with the help of an earnest listener>, and <Aspiring to understand the disaster experiences of others>.
Discussion: The results indicate that the acute phase nursing support needs to include securing a place where child survivors can be themselves which will contribute to assessing the significance of the disaster positively, and that the long term phase nursing support for those who have not yet talked about their disaster experience and have not achieved psychological recovery is needed.
