Ryoko Hirukawa
Center for Independent Living STEP EDOGAWA
A “peer” is a friend or other person sharing similar background attributes. The independent living movement that began in the 1970s in the United States greatly influenced Japan. In the 1980s, young Japanese people with disabilities went to study in the United States and brought back the counseling approach for people with disabilities (peers). This represents a form of peer counseling. Its major difference with medical counseling is that it does not center on a professional?patient relationship; rather, it is about peers (those with similar backgrounds) who are ostensibly “equal” with one another. With the revision of remuneration in fiscal year 2021, a new peer support supplement applicable to some disability welfare service establishments was established, and the role of peer supporters has been attracting attention. In this article, while touching on differences between peer counseling and medical counseling, we explain the current situation wherein peer support activities are now being evaluated beyond the scope of disabilities, and what it means for people with disabilities to support other people with disabilities, thus serving as experts.
Ikuko Yamaguchi
Consumer Organization for Medicine and Law (COML)
In recent years, ``Patient & Public Involvement (PPI)'' has been required in various fields surrounding medical care. Recently, the importance of general committee members has increased, and from 2017, special function hospitals are required to establish medical safety audit committees, and require a person in a position to receive medical care as an external member . Even in clinical practice guidelines created by academic societies, it is recommended to incorporate the opinions of the general public from the drafting stage. COML has been holding a ``Medical Council General Committee Training Course'' since 2017, and those who pass can be registered in the ``COML Committee Bank.'' Currently, there are 19 members registered in the COML Committee Bank, and we are expanding the scope of PPI, which focuses on policy recommendations, through various requests for dispatching members and dispatching them to occasions where opinions are sought as patients and citizens. In order to realize a wide range of PPI in medical care, it is essential to foster patients and citizens who are deeply involved in medical care and can collaborate, and this lecture will introduce the activities that have been put into practice at COML.
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