What America Can Learn from Japan
Order Instructions:
As the week’s resources reveal, the Japanese experience demonstrates the importance of cultural issues, such as caring and sharing that profoundly influence health outcomes. Without considering culture, one cannot begin to explain why Japan is the world’s healthiest nation on most mortality indicators despite having a high proportion of men smoking and the highest rates of low-birth weight babies among rich nations.
Furthermore, health outcomes in Japan are significantly better than those in the U.S., even though the U.S. spends much more on health care. What can the U.S. learn from this country?
Discussion questions:
A brief analysis of how reconstruction after World War II contributed to Japan’s contemporary health status. Then, summarize one significant political feature and one legal feature of Japan’s contemporary health care system that contributes to Japan’s population health status. Offer two reasons (historical, political, legal, and/or cultural) for the disparity between the Japanese and American populations in health achievement. Finally, suggest two lessons other countries can learn from the Japanese experience to improve their own health status. Expand on your insights utilizing the Learning Resources.
Articles:
Bezruchka, S., Namekata, T., & Sistrom, M. G. (2008). Interplay of politics and law to promote health: Improving economic equality and health: The case of postwar Japan. American Journal of Public Health, 98(4), 589–594. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
Kawachi, I., Fujisawa, Y., & Takao, S. (2007). The health of Japanese—What can we learn from America? Japanese National Institute of Public Health, 56(2), 114–121. Retrieved from http://www.niph.go.jp/journal/data/56-2/200756020009.pdf
Okamoto, E. (2008). Public health of Japan 2008. Tatara, K. (Ed.). Retrieved from http://www.jpha.or.jp/jpha/english/apha/Public%20Health%20of%20Japan%202008.pdf
Read pages 1–57, 65–75, and 80–88.
World Health Organization Western Pacific Region. (2010). Country health information profile: Japan. Retrieved from http://www.wpro.who.int/countries/jpn/en/
Please apply the Application Assignment Rubric when writing the Paper.
I. Paper should demonstrate an excellent understanding of all of the concepts and key points presented in the texts.
II. Paper provides significant detail including multiple relevant examples, evidence from the readings and other sources, and discerning ideas.
III. Paper should be well organized, uses scholarly tone, follows APA style, uses original writing and proper paraphrasing, contains very few or no writing and/or
spelling errors, and is fully consistent with doctoral level writing style.
IV. Paper should be mostly consistent with doctoral level writing style.
SAMPLE ANSWER
What America Can Learn from Japan
Japan is recognized all over the world for its exceptional accomplishments in the 2nd half of the 20th century in not only improving health status of the population, but also in developing a strong health system. Reconstruction following the Second World War contributed greatly Japan’s contemporary health status. In 1945, following the ending of WWII, the country confronted extensive damage. Japan’s surrender in 1945 was followed by 7 years of American occupation that aimed at restructuring Japan’s health care system as part of its objective to democratize the whole fabric of society. These endeavors had mixed outcomes. To address Japan’s health problems and to democratize the country, the American forces restructured the country’s health system and strengthened community health institutions, and this improved the control of infectious illnesses (Kawachi, Fujisawa & Takao, 2007). In the period after the war, Japan also continued to expand its social health insurance coverage to universal coverage, something that had been initiated in the prewar period. Early improvements in the longevity of the population of Japan without doubt came from the provision of essential needs such as shelter, sanitation, water, and food immediately following the war (Kondo, 2014).
One significant political feature of Japan’s contemporary health care system that contributes to the population health status of Japan is the postwar motives to expand social insurance; this came from political economy objectives that are atypical public health goals (Bezruchka, Namekata & Sistrom, 2008). The one significant legal feature of Japan’s contemporary healthcare system that contributes to Japan’s population health status are the health-related laws that were passed since the 1950s. The Japanese government, for instance, promoted preventive strategies like spreading the utilization of X-ray examinations. Treatment of tuberculosis became free in the year 1951 (Kawachi, Fujisawa & Takao, 2007).
The United States and Japan provide a remarkable contrast in their levels of health attainment. While presently, at 82.2 years on average and 86.4 years for women and 79.6 years for men, Japan has the highest life expectancy globally, the United States ranks 30th with life expectancy of 77.5 years (World Health Organization, 2014). The reasons for the disparity between the American and Japanese populations in health achievement are as follows: first is with regard to societal/cultural factors. This means that unlike Americans, people in Japan have strong social ties, have better attitudes towards sanitary behavior, have good diet, and there is small social disparities in Japan. The second reason for the disparity is the provision of universal care in Japan, as well as public health measures that have been put in place by the Japanese government (Kondo, 2014). Almost every Japanese citizen is covered without regard to any medical conditions that they might be having – predisposing conditions – or to their actuarial likelihood of dying because of disease. Premiums are based on a person’s ability to pay and their income (Okamoto, 2008).
Two lessons that other nations may learn from the experience of Japan to improving their health status are as follows: (i) Universal coverage with equity. In 1961, Japan’s attainment of universal health insurance coverage was rather early in the world, particularly taking into account its low per capita income at that time which was half of Britain. Japan also decreased inequities throughout the various insurance plans over time. It achieved this by mandating cross-subsidies across plans with dissimilar proportions of elders enrolled, and by making the rates of copayment uniform except for children and elders (Kawachi, Fujisawa & Takao, 2007). (ii) Service quality and cost containment: The country has been able to achieve universal coverage whilst still controlling costs and without significant trade-offs in the quality of service. Japan has achieved cost containment using the single nationwide fee system for reimbursement, together with a full health budget cap (Okamoto, 2008).
References
Bezruchka, S., Namekata, T., & Sistrom, M. G. (2008). Interplay of politics and law to promote health: Improving economic equality and health: The case of postwar Japan. American Journal of Public Health, 98(4), 589–594.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
Kawachi, I., Fujisawa, Y., & Takao, S. (2007). The health of Japanese—What can we learn from America? Japanese National Institute of Public Health, 56(2), 114–121.
Kondo, N. (2014). What has Made Japan Healthy? – Contributions of local and government health policies JMAJ, 57 (1): 24-27
Okamoto, E. (2008). Public health of Japan 2008. Tatara, K. (Ed.). Retrieved from http://www.jpha.or.jp/jpha/english/apha/Public%20Health%20of%20Japan%202008.pdf
World Health Organization. (2014). Japan. Available at http://www.wpro.who.int/countries/jpn/en/ (Acce
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