Interview survey of physical and mental changes and coping strategies among 13 Vietnamese female technical interns living in Japan

Abstract

We conducted a case study to assess 1) physical and mental changes; 2) self-assessments of symptoms; 3) coping strategies; and 4) adaptation to physical and mental changes by semi-structured interview survey among Vietnamese female migrant workers working in Japan under the Technical Intern Training Program. We found they experienced female-specific physical changes, and some interns’ symptoms worsened because they did not consult anyone about their symptoms. We propose increasing opportunities to learn about possible physical and mental changes caused by migration and to improve health literacy, including prevention, coping, help-seeking, and consultations about health concerns among female technical interns.

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our sincere thanks to the 13 Vietnamese technical interns and the two supervising organizations for their participation in this study. We also thank Jennifer Barrett, PhD, from Edanz Group (https://en-author-services.edanzgroup.com/) for editing a draft of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Funding

This work was supported by the research incentive fund from Oita University of Nursing and Health Sciences.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [RK], upon reasonable request.