Projection of future health for heathy people has been developed with big data, backed by increased availability of genomic information and newly developed technologies including wearable devices and artificial intelligence. This paper discusses critical attributes of health projection services using genome information for successful implementation. It particularly examines the state of art and policy challenges in three settings: population screening program, individual services at healthcare institutions, and direct-to-consumer services. Policy makers should consider different contexts in each setting for implementing socially acceptable services. Across the settings, however, policies shall be developed to ensure appropriate implementation of genomic testing, e.g. by regulating structure of service providers and procedures of testing.

This paper illustrates an outline of a comparison of “the advanced healthcare services (Senshin-iryo), the advanced medicine (Senatan-iryo), and the preemptive medicine.” First, the differences between the three technologies were explained, and in II), some medico-technological elements of “the Senshin-iryo” without the clear-cut definition were confirmed by the category analysis. In III), both “the Sentan-iryo” and “the Senshin-iryo” are 〈medical fashions〉 meaning a mode of medicines is always changeable, and merely follow the conventional preventive medicine. In IV), the concrete image of the preemptive medicine is shown likely as the “lifestyle-related diseases (Seikatsu-shukan-byo)” and its gap between the promises and the results. V) So, can it become or not a utopia the near future decorated with the individual use of predictive technology and digital health？ It depends on whether each individual obediently accepts IT-guided health discourse as it is, or whether he/she enhances medical literacy as much as possible and autonomically examines and selects it.

Modern self-tracking is an extension of traditional self-introspection, as well as a novel praxis using digital technology that has advanced since the 2010s. In the “Quantified Self” community, not only health and fitness, but also the invention of new lifestyles and aesthetics are discussed, suggesting the hybridity of devices, humans, and data rather than the reductionist view in which the self as the subject treats the data as the object. Although self-tracking tends to be criticized as reductionism, biomedicalization, healthism, and personalization of social problems in the field of sociology, we emphasize the importance of the collective practice of users who produce the individualized self-knowledge (N-of-1) and its similarity to Toji-sha research in Japan.

Today, not only are early disease detection and early treatment promoted, but also disease risk prediction and preventive interventions, with the development of genetic/genomic analysis technology. Prediction and prevention are particularly being adopted in the area of hereditary cancers. A typical example is hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndrome (HBOC), where treatment and prevention methods such as molecularly targeted drugs and prophylactic surgery have been improved. While it is medically important that patients and their genetic relatives know the risk, that knowledge can bring about conflicts of decision-making on such matters as prophylactic surgery and sharing information among family members. Based on interviews with patients with HBOC, this paper describes how patients are introduced to and take part in genetic testing, which occurs at the beginning of the prediction and prevention process, and then describes the prospects for predictive and preventive medicine.

Screening tests, developed in the late 20th century, are essential medical examinations and health checks used beyond the public health model to avoid invasive and definitive tests. Some programs are not under control, and measures are being taken to encourage patients and promote their understanding. This paper is focused on colorectal cancer screening, which is highly effective, and NIPT, which is concerned with mass screenings, to analyze the issues surrounding screening tests by interpreting the attitudes of people involved with them. The results indicated that the desire “to feel relieved” about one’s health may not be enough to encourage people to follow the “correct” pathway, from screening to definitive testing, so programs must take into account the vulnerability associated with the uncertainty of whether or not a person is sick.

This paper describes and analyses how patients cope with multiple long-term chronic diseases that lack subjective symptoms, examining intentionality from a phenomenological perspective, based on narratives given via unstructured interviews. Key experiences for patients involved “having been a long-term outpatient,” “being in a loose regimen” and “being motivated to visit the hospital for reassurance.” Patients received regular checkups to confirm their conditions were “in acceptable range” without pressure from doctors. A collaborative care style of joint management by patients and healthcare professionals has helped patients cope with long-term diseases.

The objective of this study was to determine the association between social activities (based on the Scale of Social Activities among Community-dwelling older adults [SSAC]) and the Japan Science and Technology Agency Index of Competence among community dwelling older adults. An anonymous self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted targeting approximately 1900 registered members at a human resource center for older people (“Silver Human Resources Center”) in city A. Individuals aged younger than 65 years and those whose total score for social activities could not be calculated were excluded. Data analysis was finally performed on 566 older adults. Those with a score of 12 or more on the SSAC were classified into a high social activity group. When the scores for ‘use of new equipment’ (OR＝1.48, p＝0.004), ‘information gathering’ (OR＝1.27, p＝0.027), and ‘lifestyle management’ (OR＝1.25, p＝0.019) increased, the OR for the high social activity group increased. Maintenance and improvement of high living functions are important for promoting social activity among elderly people.

This paper examines training sessions on conducting inter-hospital patient transfer requests held at the trauma and critical center based on ethnomethodology. Focusing specifically on the lecturer’s activities, the paper describes the lecturer methods for instructing junior doctors for making patient transfer requests. The lecturer organizes the training session by dividing it into two tasks—reporting a case internally to the hospital to understand the patient’s details and requesting patient transfer to an external hospital. By doing so, he tries to convey practical knowledge required to make patient transfer requests in comparison with reporting a case internally. Thus, by focusing on how members accomplish their work, this paper has achieved to present member’s both methods for making patient transfer requests as well as for conveying the method to junior doctors.

This study aims to explore the development process of a qualification system for physical therapists, using the “Issue-approach Model.” Although an orthopedist introduced the first qualification scheme, based on the rehabilitation ideas of the 1910s, it did not become a policy agenda at the time. The measures for war victims under the military regime and the welfare measures by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers after World War II prepared the ground for the recognition of the need for rehabilitation professions. The qualification scheme remerged, but vested right holders, physicians, masseurs, and visually impaired persons entered the policymaking arena. They tried to combine their own issues and agendas with this qualification scheme. As a result, the idea inherent in the proposed system changed, and the professionalization of the physical therapist stagnated.

In order to clarify the impact of nursing care at the Hansen’s Disease Sanatorium, I conducted a life story interview with a nurse who had been working there for approximately 30 years. Currently in her 70s, she still maintains a good connection with some of the ex-patients. I asked her how she cared for them, and what she believed was important in such care. The interview revealed that she aimed to preserve the “ingenuity of each individual’s disability” and felt that she was “brought up on the island” with the patients. In addition, she not only recognized them as patients, but also as “living people”. In this regard, she acknowledged their feelings, listened to them, answered their needs, and always found ways to ensure that each individual was as comfortable as possible.