Usefulness of Simple Meal Screening Using Dietary Assessment Sheets for Evacuation Shelters.

To maintain the health of evacuees, meals provided at emergency shelters should be monitored and improvement measures should be taken where necessary. Time and human resources are limited during devastating disasters; thus, the authors have developed the Dietary Assessment Sheets for Evacuation Shelters. This study examines whether the quality of meals can be assessed using simple check items on the Dietary Assessment Sheets.A total of 28 Dietary Assessment Sheets for 98 meals provided 16-19 days after the heavy rains in Kumamoto in July 2020 at 12 shelters were used in the analysis. Dietitians working for shelters were requested to fill the Dietary Assessment Sheets and food record sheets provided by the Prefectural Government. If any subitem was checkmarked, it was considered "checked," and if left blank, it was considered "not checked" and divided into categorical groups. Based on the food record sheets and meal photos, contents of energy, protein, and vitamins B1, B2, and C were calculated for each meal. Energy and nutrient contents were compared between the categorical groups.The study revealed that nutritionally poor meals were characterized as those comprising only "Grain dishes," those that were not "Boxed meals," and those involving "Self-Defense Forces," "Dietitians," or "Others." Their energy, protein, and vitamin B1, B2, and C content was significantly lower than that of meals with marks on other checkboxes in the same category.Shelters that provide these meals should be given priority for nutrition assistance due to their poor diets. The results imply that the Dietary Assessment Sheets could serve as a simple tool to determine the shelters that require nutritional assistance.

Meal plans for meeting the reference values using food items available in shelters.

BACKGROUND: We have suggested "Revised Nutritional Reference Values for Feeding at Evacuation Shelters" (Revised RV) as a daily nutritional recommendation for meals served at evacuation shelters where poor diets had been reported. Since there are no meal examples to satisfy the Revised RV, our objectives were, for the future meal provision, to develop nutritionally adequate meal plans using the foods served at shelters in the past and to examine if the Revised RV could be met by changing combination of foods available. METHODS: In this case study using secondary data, we analyzed food weights of 86 meals served and recorded at 12 shelters after the heavy rains in July 2020. We obtained these data from Kumamoto Prefecture that was damaged and asked us dietary assessment for nutrition assistance. Foods were classified into 3 types according to the check mark in the record sheets: food aid (commercial packaged food), boxed meal, and hot meal service. We counted serving frequency of each food and analyzed nutritional differences by their combinations. Menus were devised by choosing foods that were served more frequently or were more nutritious among those served at shelters. The target values for one meal were set at 1/3 of the Revised RV for energy, protein, vitamins B1, B2, and C, and salt. RESULTS: None of the meals served in the shelters satisfied the target. We created 2 menus using food aid only: (#1 curry doughnut, milk with long shelf-life, and orange jelly) and (#2 salmon rice ball, ham and cheese sandwich, and vegetable juice); 1 menu by combination of boxed meal and food aid: (#3 boxed meal and vegetable juice); and 2 menus by combination of hot meal service and food aid: (#4 chicken meatball soup, packaged tofu, soy sauce, preprocessed white rice, and bottled green tea) and (#5 bamboo shoots rice, chicken and vegetable miso soup, and bottled green tea). Planned menus generally contained more energy, protein, and vitamins and less salt than the meals served. Their vitamin C contents were especially higher. CONCLUSION: Nutritionally adequate meals could be planned by changing the combination of foods available in shelters.

Personnel Training Course for Businesses Regarding the Response to Stranded Persons Focusing on Vulnerable People from the Perspective of Business Continuity.

Businesses in urban areas have been required to accommodate stranded persons as temporary evacuation facilities during disasters. Regarding measures aimed at aiding stranded persons, aspects such as trust and the image of the business need to be considered. Therefore, in this study, a personnel training course was developed to smoothly take in stranded persons, and the outcomes of this training were evaluated by quizzes, entry sheets, and a questionnaire. This was a two-day and one-night course characterized by the use of role-play in which 20 participants experienced the series of processes that unfold during disasters, playing either the role of a stranded person or a facility member. This training included emergency food provision using real stockpiled food and accommodation training using actual bedding stored in a model facility. After the review, when the participants were taught the correct response for vulnerable people, their scores in the test regarding the points of caution in vulnerable people were significantly higher than those prior to the course, confirming that participants had acquired knowledge as a result. Furthermore, through training using real food and accommodation, the participants were able to understand victims' requirements by experiencing the need for satisfactory emergency rations and comfortable bedding.