ABSTRACT
In the increasingly globalized world, developing global health competency (GHC) education by determining the required core elements for undergraduates is on the rise. A growing number of people from different backgrounds have migrated to Japan. To accommodate their various healthcare needs, potential GHC elements that facilitate Japanese GHC education should be identified. This paper aims to extract some of the key GHC elements required for students in medical and healthcare fields based on the abundant experience of Japan’s international health cooperation and to make recommendations for GHC education in Japan and worldwide. To date, Japan’s international health cooperation has cultivated a variety of competencies to realize its mission of reducing global health disparities. Japanese GHC elements are the bases of core concepts in healthcare and share commonalities with GHC elements in global communities: Cultural competency, “Go to the People”, respect for diversity, transdisciplinary collaboration, capacity building, independence, people/patient-centered healthcare, and empowerment. Comprehensive preparation of these elements is found among kabuki kurokos (black robes), people dressed in all black who assist kabuki actors onstage during performances. The black worn by the kurokos means “nothingness”; they should be invisible on stage, so as not to interfere with the performance. Kurokos understand the culture (values, behaviors, etc.) of the lead actors, manage and coordinate stage proceedings to meet the actors’ needs, and help them achieve the best performance by collaborating with other backstage workers. Kurokos’s empowering leadership competency is akin to the Western concept of servant-leadership, which emphasizes being a servant first and devoting oneself to enabling greater health and independence/autonomy among vulnerable people. Japanese educators can exemplify kuroko values by providing their students with GHC education. Japanese GHC elements can be integrated into worldwide GHC education. Spiritual care is also essential for inclusion in GHC education to develop students’ holistic care competency.
ABSTRACT
Introduction This study aims to reveal the current status and issues on global health competency (GHC) education as well as the perceptions and opinions of nursing academics at universities and vocational colleges about providing GHC education to their students at basic nursing education programs.Methods A Japanese open-ended questionnaire and qualitative content analyses facilitated the first-ever evaluation of Japanese nursing education by standard GHC items developed by Wilson et al. (2012) in the Americas. Using NVivo 11 Plus software, qualitative descriptions of the respondents obtained were coded and the data with similar content were organized into core categories.Results A total of 331 Japanese nursing academics, including 66 deans, 135 principals, and other educators at universities and vocational colleges responded to the questionnaire. The academics recognized the importance of GHC education for their students in basic nursing education programs to adapt to globalization in Japan. On the other hand, they noted the difference in education curricula with the Americas and commented that advanced GHC indicators such as assessment and analysis skills were not feasible in current Japanese nursing education. Insufficient time and specialized instructors in GHC education were other reasons for the reluctance to provide GHC education for nursing academics.Conclusions Incorporating GHC elements into existing courses and promoting nursing educators’ understanding and skills of GHC education through FDs may effectively alleviate their concerns about lack of time and personnel while providing GHC education to their nursing students. Promoting an open, detailed discussion and active conversation among educators is also necessary to reduce the barriers and gradually promote GHC education starting with what can be implemented.