THE 29TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF JAPANESE ASSOCIATION FOR RESEARCH IN FAMILY NURSING
The 29th academic conference of the Japanese Academy of Family Nursing will be held at the Fukuoka International Congress Center on Saturday, September 10th and Sunday, September 11th, 2022. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Chairman Kamibeppu, the other directors, the councilors, and members who supported the holding of this academic conference for giving us this opportunity.
The Society of Family Nursing was established on October 1, 1994, the International Year of the Family, with the aim of establishing family nursing in Japan. The background to this is that in Japan, where the birthrate is falling and the population is aging rapidly, the care function of families who have patients ranging from children to the elderly who face health problems is weakening, while at the same time, coupled with the advancement and sophistication of medical care, there is an increasing need for appropriate support to understand the families who suffer alongside the patients and to improve difficult situations. The Society works in cooperation with already established nursing specialties and a wide range of academic fields, accumulating research and practical activities with the aim of improving support for people with health disorders and their families, and is currently active with over 1,600 members.
Over the past two years, the spread of COVID-19 has brought about major changes in society as a whole, affecting the way families live. The theme of this academic conference is "Weaving Family Narratives: Family Nursing from the Field." "Family nursing" begins with understanding each "family narrative." When a family member has a health disorder or is functioning weakly, we believe that by accompanying them with "family nursing," the family can walk their own unique "family narrative."
For the special lecture, we asked Dr. Chikako Ishii of the Ishii Family Therapy Laboratory to give a talk entitled "Ambiguous Loss and Family Support," and Dr. Katsuaki Toshima of Kanagawa Children's Medical Center, the supervising doctor for the TV drama "Kounodori," to give a talk entitled "Supporting the 'Beginning' of a Family: From the NICU Field." For the educational lecture, we asked Dr. Yoko Yamada, Director of the Narrative Psychology Research Institute, to give a talk entitled "Visual Narrative and Support," and Dr. Ayami Nakano of Kochi Prefectural University to give a talk entitled "Improving Family Nursing Practice Skills: Utilizing the Family Nursing Empowerment Model." For the public lecture, we asked Shingo Yasutake, author of "Hana-chan's Miso Soup," to give a talk. For the symposium, we asked four people who practice family nursing in adult nursing, psychiatric nursing, home hospice, and pediatric home care, to give talks entitled "Messages from the Field of Family Nursing: Practice and Issues." The other was titled "Learning from Family Stories" and involved hearing the experiences of three family members from the perspective of an elderly spouse, a daughter caring for her mother with ALS, and a mother who has lost a child.
The 29th event will be held in the Kyushu region for the first time. Hoping that the spread of COVID-19 will calm down, the planning committee is working hard to hold the event in Fukuoka. We look forward to seeing many of you there.
