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Objective: Two percent of the Japanese population is comprised of foreign residents with further increase expected due to immigration policy revisions. The purpose of this paper is to examine the healthcare needs and difficulties experienced by foreign residents in Japan by level of their Japanese language fluency. Design: A quantitative, descriptive design was used. Sample: We surveyed foreign residents in the greater Tokyo area (N = 209). Measurements: The research team created the survey questions and the contents of the survey include foreign residents' experiences during their visits or stays at medical and public health facilities in Japan. Results: More than 90% of the participants or their families visited medical facilities in Japan regardless of Japanese language fluency; however, those with less Japanese language fluency experienced statistically significant uneasiness or inconvenience concerning communication compared to those with native Japanese language fluency (p =.000). Conclusions: Nurses in Japan may benefit from additional training related to use of interpreters as well as education about diversity and cultural humility. Through better understanding of the specific communication barriers of foreign residents, nurses will be able to better anticipate difficulties and address them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Approximately 20% of Japanese women in their reproductive years are smokers. Therefore, in the present study, we report the behavioral changes of woman who undertook a 3 month stop-smoking program. Sixty-six pregnant smokers in the first trimester of pregnancy participated in this study from two hospitals and an obstetric clinic in Japan. Our newly-developed e-learning program uses a cell phone Internet connection service to support pregnant women who want to quit smoking. Using this, service participants were given guidance concerning smoking, and were breath tested for their carbon monoxide levels every 4 weeks for 3 months. An e-learning cessation smoking-support program was maintained throughout the same period. Consequently, 52 of 66 pregnant smokers from three settings began the program, and 48 of 52 eventually completed it. The achievement rate of non-smoking was 71.1% (37/48), and their carbon monoxide exhalation levels significantly decreased from 6.43 ± 4.5 ppm at the beginning to 0.7 ± 1.0 ppm in 1 month, to 0.29 ± 1.08 in 3 months ( P < 0.001). These results suggest the effectiveness of our e-leaning program. This paper reports the results of the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]