Post-Disaster Mental Health Governance in Japan and the U.S.

Abstract

This article examines how public and private governance efforts are made in Japan and in the US in response to large-scale disasters requiring national-level post-disaster mental health support, focusing on the roles of organizations deployed on site in the immediate post-disaster period and how they perform their duties. In both Japan and the US, laws and guidelines are in place that clearly stipulate, in the area of mental health support, the responsibilities and roles of organizations and personnel deployed on site in the event of a disaster, with the mental health support system tending to be managed, in the event of a large-scale disaster, by a single agency with overarching supervisory authority. In light of the experiences of Japan and the US, the Korean government should increase its authority to enhance the consistency and coordination of its post-disaster mental health support system.