Aim: A mega-earthquake and tsunami struck the northeastern coast of Japan, and many survivors were forced to evacuate to temporary housing due to rising radiation levels. The aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence of symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and poor general health among survivors, to test the predictive roles of resilience on mental and physical health, and to examine the predictive sociodemographic factors on resilience.Methods: Two hundred and forty-one evacuees (men/ women: 116/125) from Hirono, Fukushima participated in the study. They were asked to complete the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, the Zung SelfRating Depression Scale, the Impact of Events ScaleRevised, and a demographic questionnaire.Results: Among all participants, 53.5% exhibited the clinically concerning symptoms of PTSD, and among them 33.2% indicated clinical PTSD symptoms. Additionally, 66.8% reported symptoms of depression, and among them 33.2% showed mildly depressive symptoms, while 19.1% and 14.5% demonstrated moderate and severe depressive symptoms, respectively. Resilience was a significant buffer for depression, PTSD, and general health. Additionally, employment status, eating/exercise habits, and drinking habits predicted resilience. Conclusion:The results indicated that depression and PTSD are prevalent among the survivors of massive earthquakes, tsunamis, and accidents from nuclear power plants. However, the results also showed that some survivors managed to endure the traumatic events relatively well, and resilience was a significant protective factor in dealing with such events. Therefore, it is crucial to assist survivors in improving their resilience by providing job opportunities and encouraging a healthy lifestyle.

The primary goal of the study was to assess the efficacy of mindfulness-based meditation therapy on the psychological well-being and sense of coherence of nurses with respect to coping with stress. The participants were 28 nurses working in a ward for elderly patients, with 15 included in the intervention group and 13 in the control group. Nurses in the intervention group received two sessions of mindfulness-based meditation therapy, including breathing, yoga movement and meditation. Each nurse was taught the program in the first session, then exercised at home with a CD, and subsequently met with an interviewer in a second session after two weeks. Nurses in the control group did not receive any interventions. The participants completed the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), including subdomains of physical symptoms, anxiety and sleep disturbance, interference with social activities, and depression; and the Sense of Coherence (SOC) questionnaire, which includes three subdomains of comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness pre- and post-intervention. The GHQ scores of the intervention group showed a significantly greater decrease than those of the control group. The SOC scores of the intervention group showed a significantly greater increase after the intervention compared to those in the control group, with the highest score for the meaningfulness subdomain. These results indicate that mindfulness-based meditation therapy is effective for improving the psycho-logical well-being and sense of coherence of nurses, which helps them to cope with stress

The extract of G. lucidum was well tolerated and an improvement in IPSS was observed. The recommended dose of the extract of G. lucidum is 6 mg in men with LUTS.

Background End-stage kidney disease is highly prevalent worldwide. Currently, one of the most effective treatment modalities is dialysis therapy, which leads to serious side effects. Furthermore, psychiatric illnesses are prevalent among dialysis patients. Recently, researchers asserted that psychological resilience and family support could be helpful to maintain or improve patients’ mental well-being. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the mediating effects of resilience on the relationship between family functioning and mental well-being in these patients. Methods To investigate the aim of this study, a cross-sectional design was employed. A total of 110 hemodialysis patients, who were receiving outpatient treatment from dialysis units at the University of Fukuoka and St. Maria Health Care Center in Japan, participated. Only the patients who met the criteria and who were willing to participate in this 30-min study were given The General Health Questionnaire-12, Conner-Davidson Resilience Scale, and Family Assessment Device. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was performed to test the hypothesis that resilience would mediate the relationship between each subscale of family functioning, namely, cohesion, adaptability, communication, and mental well-being. Then Sobel’s test was employed to examine the indirect effect. Results The results of the SEM showed that the model had an acceptable fit (RMSEA = .077; CFI = .93; and IFI = .94). According to the results, resilience fully mediated the relationship between family functioning, specifically family adaptability and communication, and mental health well-being of the dialysis patients. However, family cohesion was not associated with resilience. Conclusions The present study revealed that higher family adaptability and communication resulted in greater resilience, thus associated with better mental health. Given that poor mental health among dialysis patients is significantly associated with a decreased likelihood to adhere to treatment plans, it may lead to a significant risk to therapeutic compliance. As such, patients may experience detrimental consequences, such as death. This study showed that in order to maintain healthy mental well-being, developing resilience is a vital factor for hemodialysis patients.

The aim of this study was to examine the mediating effects of resilience, morale, and sense of coherence on the relationship between physical activity and respondents' perceived physical/mental health and depression among community-dwelling older adults in Japan. The study included 369 participants with an average age of 74 years from Kasuishimohara District in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. They completed a survey that included the Resilience Scale, the Sense of Coherence Scale, the Medical Outcomes Short Form 8, the Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale, the Geriatric Depression Scale (Short Form), and a demographic questionnaire. The results of the path mediation analyses revealed that resilience and morale fully mediated the relationship between physical activity and perceived physical/mental health and depression. However, sense of coherence was not a significant mediator. Some intervention programs are suggested to maximize the effects of physical activity on one's well-being. At-risk populations who need such programs are also discussed.

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the effects of mindful meditation and yoga on reducing burnout and stress in care workers who assist elderly individuals. Knowing how to reduce burnout is important because that of care workers is associated with the quality of client care, worker productivity, and job turnover. Patients and Methods: The participants included 44 care workers who worked for elderly care facilities in rural Fukuoka. They were randomly assigned to one of three intervention groups: control, yoga, or mindfulness. In the yoga intervention group, a certified yoga instructor taught a 60-minute yoga session each week for six weeks. In the mindfulness group, an experienced medical doctor instructed a mindful meditation program for the same length. Participants were asked to complete the Japanese Burnout Scale (JBS), and the research team collected the level of α-amylase in saliva using NIPRO: T-110-N pre-and post-interventions. Results: MANOVA was performed with each intervention (control, yoga, mindfulness) as the independent variable on the three subscales of the JBS (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal achievement) and a biomarker of stress level (α-amylase). The results indicated a significant main effect of interventions, and a follow-up ANOVA showed a significant effect of interventions on emotional exhaustion and personal achievement. Conclusion:The results indicate that practicing mindful meditation or yoga for 60 minutes once a week for six weeks can reduce care workers' burnout. This study was notable because the biomarker of stress also improved. It is strongly recommended and encouraged that institutions caring for the elderly population provide mindful meditation or yoga intervention to reduce burnout, which benefits not only care workers but also their clients.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the mediating roles of resilience on the relationship between groups (exercise/mindfulness/control) and minor psychiatric disorders measured. Then, the effects of exercise and mindfulness-based yoga programs on resilience were examined using randomized control design. The data were collected from three community centers in Fukuoka, Japan, and a total of 55 participants, who were over 65 years of age and met inclusion criteria, were randomly assigned to one of the three groups. Then, the participants were asked to complete the demographic survey as well as the GHQ-12. The results of the path mediation analyses showed that resilience fully mediated the relationship between group and minor psychiatric disorders. Furthermore, there was a significant difference in resilience and psychiatric disorders between exercise/mindfulness groups and the control group, while there were no differences between the exercise and mindfulness-based yoga groups. Potential intervention programs are discussed.

From 2020 to 2022 the Covid-19 was spread and many people died. Death is near to everyone. The aim of the study was to investigate differences of concept of good death and view of life and death cross cultural. Participants were 92 Japanese, 110 Korean and 100 American who were ordinary people. We used the Good Death questionnaire to measure desirable death and the Death Attitude Inventory to measure view of life and death. Participants completed both questionnaires. As for Good Death, Japanese and Korean regarded "not being burden to others" as important the most, and American regarded "feeling that one's life is worth living" as important. The scores of "unawareness of death" and "religious and spiritual comfort" of Korean were the highest, following American, and Japan. As for the Death Attitude Inventory, the score of American was higher than Japanese and Korean totally. The scores of "Death as release" or "Death Avoidance" of American were the highest. These results suggest that although Japanese and Korean regard "Not being burden to others" as important in common, Korean regard religious and spiritual comfort as important. American may avoid to think of death and regard it as release. We can make use of these cultural differences in clinical situation.