History of CAB activities (Page1) 　　Health check-up for foreign residents. To help foreign residents who are unable to communicate effectively in Japanese, CAB, in coorperation with other NPOs coordinated the health check-up. The health check-up was coordinated among NPOs from within Nagano prefecture under the guidance from the prefectural office and was held in seven different locations in 2003. CAB being a part of the NPO network, coordinated the health check-ups at Karuizawa Hospital(Oct.26, 2003) and Saku Central Hospital(Nov.9). In this region(Toshin area), the health check-ups had been suspended since 1998 however, with the help of many volunteers and hospital staff, the event successfully resumed after 6years. Since thes check-up doesn't require examinees to show health insurance and/or visa/passport, it enables doctors to identify diseases or illness before its too late. With 1500yen per person (free for ages 15 and below), people could have their blood test, urine test, and chest x-rays taken in addition to check-ups at general physician, pediatrics, and at dentists. In total with the help of 165 volunteers and hospital staff, 110 foreign residents could have their health checked at Karuizawa Hospital and Saku Central Hospital. This event was taken up by Shinano Mainichi newspaper(Oct.27, 2003) and Yomiuri newspaper(Nov.16) Comments from participants It's hard to go to hospitals by ourselves. We would appreciate if these events would continue. If we do the check-ups ourselves, it cost much more and would have to take a day off for that. Therefore, we would like to see this event in the coming years again. Comments from volunteers There are a lot of foreign residents from developing nations who don't know about regular health check systems. For them things such as blood tests are not common and have language barriers. It makes them feel comfortable if someone can accompany throughout the procedure. Eventually they too will get older and we have to think about elderly care as well. I assisted a person form Thailand but due to limited Japanese language ability, we couldn't communicate well. However we could communicate through gestures and expressions, and I thought this was also a good way to learn about communication. Until now, I didn't have clear image about foreign residents but through this opportunity, my views have changed. If there is an opportunity, I would like to volunteer again. The person who I assisted said, it was a first time for that person to go through a health check-up. Through this check-up, I felt that we could prevent illnesses and know about our body, thus is an essential part in our lives. I would like to utilize this experience for my studies.(Nursing school student) Apart from these we have also received numerous comments such as about reducing the waiting time, increasing the number of volunteers, and a worthwhile activity. Thank you for all the comments and suggestions. We would like to make the event even better by considering all comments and suggestions. This year in November (exact date to be announced), we are planning the health check-up again and are looking for volunteers for the event. Please contact the following email address for questions. cab@npo-jp.net　 HOME 　 History