Department of Palliative Care Nursing,
Human Health Sciences,
Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University

Cancer is a common disease that occurs approximately one in two Japanese people. Although it remains the leading cause of death in Japan, developments in diagnostic techniques and treatment strategies have enabled people to lead full lives. As cancer diagnosis and treatment causes various difficulties to cancer survivors, support for cancer survivorship is becoming increasingly important to help cancer survivors live their own lives from the time of diagnosis to the chronic and terminal stages of the disease.

Palliative care nursing is an academic discipline that creates nursing care to prevent and alleviate physical, psychological, social, and spiritual suffering for people of all ages who experience life-threatening illness and their families, and to support their survival to the end of life. The principles of palliative care include knowing the person as a whole, respecting what is important to them, being there for them in any situation, and addressing the total pain.

We conduct research with the aim of developing nursing care that prevents and alleviates the total pain of cancer survivors and contributes to maintaining and improving the quality of life. In particular, our research theme focuses on cancer and cancer therapy-related cognitive impairment. We have conducted qualitative and quantitative surveys and intervention studies to understand cognitive problems and to develop nursing care in cancer survivors of different ages. We are also pursuing international collaborative research with nursing researchers in the US. Furthermore, we are conducting research on a wide range of topics, including the theory and practice of whole-person care and communication in cancer care.

We strive to create and implement nursing care that contributes to an optimal quality of life for cancer survivors.