Haruka Ueno

Faculty of Health and Medical Science,Department of Health and DieteticsAssociate Professor
Graduate School of Health Sciences,Master's and Doctoral Programs in Health and DieteticsAssociate Professor
Last Updated :2025/10/07

■Career

Educational Background

  • The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Medicine

■Research activity information

Paper

  • 患者のストーリーテリングを聴く授業による「患者への共感」の学習効果 前後比較研究               
    Jul. 2024
  • Using patient storytelling to improve medical students' empathy in Japan: a pre-post study.
    Yumi Kagawa; Hirono Ishikawa; Daisuke Son; Tsuyoshi Okuhara; Hiroko Okada; Haruka Ueno; Eiko Goto; Aiko Tsunezumi; Takahiro Kiuchi
    BMC medical education, 27 Jan. 2023
    BACKGROUND: Empathy for patients is now internationally accepted as one of the competencies of physicians for patient-centered medical practice and an essential component of medical education. Recently, "patient storytelling" has attracted attention in empathy education for medical students to understand patients' experiences, feelings, and perspectives. This study aimed to quantitatively evaluate how patient storytelling enhanced undergraduate medical students' empathy in Japan to the extent that they sustained it for six months. METHODS: Participants were 159 fourth-year undergraduate medical students in Tokyo in academic years 2018 and 2019. The questionnaire surveys were conducted three times: at the beginning of the class, immediately after the class, and six months after the class. The Japanese version of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Student Version was used in this study. Gender, age, and clinical orientation were also obtained through the self-reported questionnaire. We invited a male patient storyteller who was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease to the classes on "Professionalism." The title of his storytelling was "The Power of Medical Professionals' Words." RESULTS: JSE-S scores improved significantly immediately after listening to patient storytelling. The scores remained improved six months after the class. Interest of specialty was significantly positively associated with an immediate change in JSE-S scores. However, gender had no significant association with changes in JSE-S scores either immediately or six months after education. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings may suggest that patient storytelling would be useful to cultivate empathy among undergraduate medical students. It is to be expected that more medical schools will use patient storytelling to educate medical students in humanistic and communication education.
  • 亜鉛の吸収に及ぼす食品の影響               
    Sep. 2022
  • Readability assessment of vaccine information: A systematic review for addressing vaccine hesitancy.
    Tsuyoshi Okuhara; Hirono Ishikawa; Haruka Ueno; Hiroko Okada; Mio Kato; Takahiro Kiuchi
    Patient education and counseling, Feb. 2022
    OBJECTIVE: Vaccine hesitancy is a problem attracting growing attention and concern. Communication can be an effective tool to counteract vaccine hesitancy and promote optimal vaccine uptake. Readability has been recognized as one of the more important aspects of health communication for achieving good health literacy. We reviewed studies of readability assessment in the area of vaccine communication. METHODS: We conducted a systematic literature search in September 2020, using four online databases (Medline, CINAHL, PsycArticles, and PsycINFO). We included studies that assessed the readability level of online and offline vaccine information materials. RESULTS: We found 12 articles that were appropriate for inclusion. Ten of the studies were published after 2016. The readability levels of the majority of the materials assessed were found to be difficult and higher than 8th-grade level. CONCLUSION: Readability assessments of vaccine information are scarce. The limited evidence shows that the readability level of vaccine information supplied by health care providers is more difficult to read than recommended. More studies on the readability of vaccine information are recommended. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Difficulty reading vaccine information may influence attitudes toward acceptance of or hesitancy to take vaccines. It is recommended that health care professionals use guidelines and tools to create easy-to-read vaccine information.
  • Factors related to self-care drug treatment and medication adherence of elderly people in Japan.
    Haruka Ueno; Hirono Ishikawa; Mio Kato; Tsuyoshi Okuhara; Hiroko Okada; Takahiro Kiuchi
    Public health in practice (Oxford, England), Nov. 2021
    OBJECTIVES: The number of home-dwelling elderly people who need drug treatment is increasing with the aging of the population. Elderly people are often suffering from various chronic diseases requiring treatment with multiple drugs, which makes self-care at home difficult. This study focused on medication adherence and aimed to identify the current state of self-care for drug treatment in home-dwelling elderly people and the factors that relate to self-care and medication. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODS: Medication adherence was measured on a 12-item medication adherence scale for home-dwelling elderly people aged 65 and over who were taking medications. The present condition of medication self-care for home-dwelling elderly people was clarified in terms of medication adherence. Next, we clarified the relationship between medication adherence and other factors such as demographic and clinical characteristics, communication with doctors, and health literacy. RESULTS: The average age was 73.7 (47.2% male). Functional health literacy and communicative health literacy were significantly associated with a high level of medication adherence. There was also a significant association between medication adherence and good communication with doctors. CONCLUSIONS: Medication adherence among home-dwelling elderly people was found to be related to the ability to obtain, understand, and communicate information, in addition to the basic literacy skills of health literacy. We also found that good communication with doctors was closely related to medication adherence. Our findings suggest that it is necessary to be consciously involved in promoting health literacy and communication when supporting self-care for medical treatment of home-dwelling elderly people in the future.
  • Development of a Japanese version of the Advance Care Planning Engagement Survey: Examination of its reliability and validity.
    Hiroko Okada; Sayaka Takenouchi; Tsuyoshi Okuhara; Haruka Ueno; Takahiro Kiuchi
    Palliative & supportive care, Jun. 2021
    OBJECTIVES: The importance of supporting advance care planning (ACP) by healthcare professionals is recognized worldwide, and assessing the outcomes, such as people's understanding and readiness for ACP, using an appropriate instrument is essential. We, therefore, developed a Japanese version of the Advance Care Planning Engagement Survey (ACP Engagement Survey; 15 items, 9 items, and 4 items), an international scale for assessing the progress of the ACP, and examined its validity and reliability. METHODS: The ACP Engagement Survey was translated into Japanese, back-translated, and culturally adapted, and the final version was reviewed by the author of the original version. Data on basic demographic information and ACP-related experiences were simultaneously collected as external criteria in an online survey of older adults with chronic diseases. The Cronbach's alpha was calculated to assess its internal consistency, and a retest was performed three days later to calculate the intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs). RESULTS: A total of 200 respondents (mean age 70; 9.5% female) were included in the analysis. None of the items showed a ceiling effect, but several items did exhibit a floor effect. The factor structure was the same 2-factor structure as the original version, and both factors exhibited a high cumulative contribution rate. The Cronbach's alphas were 0.94 (15-item version), 0.91 (9-item version), and 0.95 (4-item version), and ICCs were of 0.88 (15-item version), 0.9 (9-item version), and 0.84 (4-item version). SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS: The Japanese version of the ACP Engagement Survey was confirmed to have very good reliability regarding both internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Together with the result of the item analysis, we can conclude that the Japanese version of the ACP Engagement Survey is sufficiently reliable to be utilized in interventional studies, and it has acceptable content validity, construct validity, and criterion-related validity.
  • Examining Long-Term Effects of Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Recommendation Messages: A 4-Month Follow-Up Survey of a Randomized Controlled Study in Japan.
    Tsuyoshi Okuhara; Hirono Ishikawa; Haruka Ueno; Hiroko Okada; Takahiro Kiuchi
    Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 10 Dec. 2020
    We previously conducted a randomized controlled study to examine persuasive messages recommending HPV vaccination to mothers with daughters in Japan. That study showed that the three types of intervention message used (statistical information only, a patient's narrative in addition to statistical information, and a mother's narrative in addition to statistical information) all significantly improved mothers' intention to have their daughter(s) receive the HPV vaccine, in comparison with mothers who received no messaging. The present study is a follow-up survey to assess the long-term effect of the intervention. Four months after the initial study, in January 2018, participants in the previous study were contacted and queried about their current intention to have their daughter(s) receive the HPV vaccine. Statistical analysis was conducted using the paired t-test and analysis of variance. A total of 978 mothers participated in the current survey. Vaccination intention 4 months after intervention had decreased to a level that did not differ significantly from the level prior to intervention in all three intervention conditions. The amount of change in vaccination intention 4 months after intervention did not differ significantly among the three intervention groups (p = 0.871). A single exposure to messaging was insufficient to produce a persistent intervention effect.
  • Dual-process theories to counter the anti-vaccination movement.
    Tsuyoshi Okuhara; Hirono Ishikawa; Hiroko Okada; Haruka Ueno; Takahiro Kiuchi
    Preventive medicine reports, Dec. 2020
    Vaccine hesitancy is a problem attracting growing attention and concern. In this paper, we discuss why anti-vaccination messages are influential and which pro-vaccine messages can be effective to address vaccine hesitancy from the perspective of dual-process theories of cognitive functioning. The functioning of the human brain can be characterized by two different types of cognitive functioning: intuitive System 1, which is evolutionarily old, fast, and automatic; and analytical System 2, which is evolutionarily recent, slow, and deliberative. Anti-vaccination messages that inspire fear activate System 1, and vaccine recommendation messages that use statistics activate System 2. System 1 has a greater influence on judgment than System 2. The processing of System 1 is called "trajectory." Even if adequate knowledge about the effectiveness and safety of vaccination is input to System 2, vaccine hesitancy cannot be easily erased once it is generated by System 1. We suggest that vaccine recommendation messages should target System 1 in addition to System 2, to counter anti-vaccination messages and address vaccine hesitancy.
  • Online Japanese-Language Information on Lifestyle Factors Associated With Reduced Fertility: Content Analysis.
    Rie Yokota; Tsuyoshi Okuhara; Haruka Ueno; Hiroko Okada; Emi Furukawa; Takahiro Kiuchi
    Journal of medical Internet research, 25 Aug. 2020
    BACKGROUND: Approximately one-third of Japanese couples currently worry or previously worried about infertility. To develop strategies for the primary prevention of infertility as a population approach, it is important for the general population to be knowledgeable about fertility and infertility. The internet may contribute to the dissemination of information regarding infertility and fertility. However, few studies have examined online information about fertility. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to quantitatively examine online Japanese-language information about lifestyle factors associated with reduced fertility. METHODS: We conducted online searches, using the 10 search terms with the highest numbers of searches that people hoping to conceive are likely to input in two major search engines in Japan (Google Japan and Yahoo! Japan). From the 2200 retrieved websites, 1181 duplicates and 500 websites unrelated to our objective were excluded, resulting in a final dataset of 519 websites. Coding guidelines were developed for the following lifestyle factors associated with reduced fertility: sexually transmitted diseases, psychological stress, cigarette smoking, alcohol use, nutrition and diet, physical activity and exercise, underweight, overweight and obesity, and environmental pollutants. RESULTS: In terms of the website author's professional expertise, 69.6 % of the coding instances for the selected lifestyle factors were mentioned by hospitals, clinics, or the media, whereas only 1.7% were mentioned by laypersons. Psychological stress (20.1%) and sexually transmitted diseases (18.8%) were the most frequently mentioned lifestyle factors associated with reduced fertility. In contrast, cigarette smoking, alcohol use, nutrition and diet, physical activity and exercise, underweight, overweight and obesity, and environmental pollutants were mentioned relatively infrequently. The association between reduced fertility and sexually transmitted diseases was mentioned significantly more frequently by hospitals and clinics than by the media (P<.001). The association between reduced fertility and nutrition and diet was mentioned significantly more frequently by the media than by hospitals and clinics (P=.008). With regard to the sex of the target audience for the information, female-specific references to psychological stress, sexually transmitted diseases, nutrition and diet, underweight, physical activity and exercise, and overweight and obesity were significantly more frequent than were male-specific references to these lifestyle factors (psychological stress: P=.002, sexually transmitted diseases: P<.001, nutrition and diet: P<.001, underweight: P<.001, physical activity and exercise: P<.001, overweight and obesity: P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: Of the lifestyle factors known to be related to reduced fertility, cigarette smoking, alcohol use, and male-specific lifestyle factors are mentioned relatively infrequently in online information sources in Japan, and these factors should be discussed more in information published on websites.
  • Influence of high versus low readability level of written health information on self-efficacy: A randomized controlled study of the processing fluency effect.
    Tsuyoshi Okuhara; Hirono Ishikawa; Haruka Ueno; Hiroko Okada; Mio Kato; Takahiro Kiuchi
    Health psychology open, 2020
    We investigated the relationship of processing fluency of written information about exercise to participants' perceived interest, safety, self-efficacy, outcome expectation, and behavioral intention regarding the exercise. We randomly assigned 400 men and women aged 40-69 years to control or intervention conditions. Perceived self-efficacy of performing the exercise in the intervention group (i.e. easy to read) was significantly higher than that in the control group (i.e. difficult to read) (p = 0.04). Easy-to-read written health information may be important not only for making written health information comprehensible but also for increasing readers' self-efficacy for adopting health-related behaviors.
  • The association between health literacy levels and patient-reported outcomes in Japanese type 2 diabetic patients.
    Haruka Ueno; Hirono Ishikawa; Ryo Suzuki; Yoshihiko Izumida; Yumiko Ohashi; Toshimasa Yamauchi; Takashi Kadowaki; Takahiro Kiuchi
    SAGE open medicine, 2019
    OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to empirically examine a full pathway model of health literacy, and health and well-being outcomes among patients with type 2 diabetes. METHODS: A three-wave longitudinal survey was administered to 148 patients with diabetes. Covariance structure analysis was conducted to create a path diagram, with health literacy and burden of medical expenses included as independent variables and with psychosocial factors, behaviors, and health and well-being outcomes included as dependent variables. RESULTS: The model fit indices showed a comparative fit index of 0.985 at baseline, 0.959 after 3 months, and 0.948 after 6 months, with a root mean square error of approximation of 0.040 at baseline, 0.079 after 3 months, and 0.085 after 6 months. There were 14 significant paths across the three time points between health literacy and understanding of diabetes care, self-efficacy, communication with doctors, and medication adherence. CONCLUSION: The model fitness index showed an adequate result. Health literacy was significantly positively associated with understanding of diabetes care, self-efficacy, communication with doctors, and medication adherence. Health literacy had a direct positive influence on medication adherence and possibly an indirect positive influence on exercise/diet via self-efficacy. The results were generally consistent across the three time points, suggesting good reliability of the models. Improving health literacy may lead to better self-management of diabetes and favorable health outcomes.
  • Reliability and validity of a 12-item medication adherence scale for patients with chronic disease in Japan.
    Haruka Ueno; Yoshihiko Yamazaki; Yuki Yonekura; M J Park; Hirono Ishikawa; Takahiro Kiuchi
    BMC health services research, 31 Jul. 2018
    BACKGROUND: To improve and support medication adherence among patients with chronic diseases, especially for long-term medication, it is important to consider both their relationship with healthcare providers and their lifestyle. We tested the reliability and validity of a modified 12-item Medication Adherence Scale. METHODS: We revised a 14-item measure of medication adherence, created in 2009, to a more concise and clear 12-item version, and we verified the reliability and validity of the 12-item scale. We included 328 patients with chronic diseases participating in the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program in Japan from 2011 to 2014. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess whether the four factors assessed were the same as the previous 14-item Medication Adherence Scale. Cronbach's coefficient alpha was used to assess internal consistency reliability, and the relationships between patient demographic characteristics and medication adherence were compared with previous studies. RESULTS: The 12 items were categorized into the four factors "medication compliance", "collaboration with healthcare providers", "willingness to access and use information about medication", and "acceptance to take medication and how taking medication fits patient's lifestyle". Confirmatory factor analysis showed χ2/df = 2.6, CFI = 0.94, and RMSEA = 0.069. Cronbach's alpha for the 12-item scale was 0.78. Cronbach's alpha for the four subscales was 0.74, 0.81, 0.67, and 0.45. Higher medication adherence was significantly associated with being a female patient, living with someone else, and age 40-49 years versus age 20-29 years. These relationships were the same as in previous studies. CONCLUSIONS: We modified our original 14-item scale to a 12-item Medication Adherence Scale for patients with chronic diseases, which considers their relationship with healthcare providers and lifestyle. Refinement might be needed because of the relatively low reliability of subscales. However, the modified scale is expected to contribute to more effective self-management of medication and to improving medication adherence, particularly among patients with chronic diseases who require long-term medication not only in Japan but also in other countries.
  • Factors associated with deaths in 'Elderly Housing with Care Services' in Japan: a cross-sectional study.
    Kentaro Sugimoto; Yasuko Ogata; Masayo Kashiwagi; Haruka Ueno; Yoshie Yumoto; Yuki Yonekura
    BMC palliative care, 23 Nov. 2017
    BACKGROUND: Although the Japanese government has expanded its 'Elderly Housing with Care Services' (EHCS) to ensure sufficient places of death for the elderly, resident deaths have occurred in less than 30% of the facilities. Our purpose was to identify the factors associated with residents' deaths in the EHCS, especially within the areas that are expected to have a large increase in the number of deaths. METHODS: Our cross-sectional study involved all EHCS (N = 412) in Japan's Tokyo, Kanagawa prefecture and used self-administered questionnaire data that the EHCS directors completed. In addition, we accessed the national statistics related to the municipal characteristics of the cities where the EHCS were located. These sources provided information about health care provision for the residents as well as facility/resident/regional characteristics that could potentially be associated with residents' deaths in the EHCS. Based on this information, a sequential multiple logistic regression analysis was performed. First, we included in-facility health care provision (presence of nursing staff) and facility/residents/regional characteristics in Model 1. Next, visiting nurse agency's care provision was included in Model 2. Finally, we included community hospitals or clinical care provision in Model 3. RESULTS: One hundred and fifty-four facilities answered the questionnaire (response rate: 37.4%). A total of 114 facilities were analysed. In-facility residents' deaths occurred in more than half (54.4%) of the facilities. After adjusting for all variables (Model 3), end-of-life (EOL) care provision from community hospitals or clinics, the number of years since establishment and the number of residents were significantly associated with residents' deaths. In Model 2, visiting nurse's EOL care provision was significantly associated with residents' death. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that in order to accommodate residents' deaths, the government or the facility's directors should promote the cooperation between EHCS facilities and community hospitals or clinics for in-residents' EOL care. Furthermore, as the results suggest that community nurses contribute to the occurrences of death by collaborating with the physician, promoting cooperation with visiting nurse agencies may be also needed.
  • 継続看護における外来看護師の情報収集と病棟との連携の実態               
    Sep. 2016
  • 2型糖尿病患者のヘルスリテラシーが自己管理行動に及ぼす影響               
    Apr. 2015
  • 慢性疾患セルフマネジメントプログラム受講患者におけるストレス対処・健康生成力概念 SOCの向上と「知覚された肯定的変化(PPC)」との関連性分析結果とその示唆               
    May 2013
  • 日本の慢性疾患患者を対象とした新しい服薬アドヒアランス尺度の必要性と開発及び信頼性・妥当性の検討               
    Jun. 2010
  • 日本の成人1型糖尿病患者における慢性疾患セルフマネジメントプログラムの有効性の検証 非無作為化比較試験による検証               
    Jun. 2010
  • 日本における慢性疾患セルフマネジメントプログラムの効果の非無作為化比較試験による検討 3ヵ月の追跡結果から               
    Jun. 2010
  • 慢性疾患自己管理プログラム(CDSMP)におけるアウトカムの経時的変化の評価研究 プログラム提供に関わる諸要因を考慮したモデルを用いて               
    May 2009

MISC

Lectures, oral presentations, etc.

  • 外来経口抗がん剤患者の薬物療法の情報共有における患者-医療者間コミュニケーションについて               
    Sep. 2023
  • 不妊リスクのライフスタイル因子に関するインターネット上の情報の内容分析               
    Sep. 2020
  • がん医療で使われる用語に対し市民が抱いているイメージに関する研究               
    Sep. 2019
  • 日本の従業員におけるヘルスリテラシーと心の健康、職業性ストレス因子との関連               
    Sep. 2019
  • 「患者の語り」を活用した医学生に対する共感教育の効果 授業前後と7ヵ月後の検討               
    Sep. 2019
  • テレビ健康バラエティ番組における科学的根拠の提示               
    Sep. 2019
  • 慢性疾患を持つ高齢者におけるアドバンス・ケア・プランニングプロセスの促進に関連する因子の検討               
    Sep. 2019
  • 在宅高齢者の薬物療法における服薬アドヒアランスとヘルスリテラシー、医師とのコミュニケーションの関連               
    Sep. 2019
  • 地域組織活動活性化要因の把握と尺度の開発               
    Sep. 2019
  • 日本におけるがんに関する新聞記事 31年間の計量テキスト分析               
    Sep. 2019
  • 医療ドラマの成り立ち 制作者へのインタビュー調査から               
    Sep. 2018
  • 医療ジャーナリズムの日米比較 Health Journalism 2018に参加して               
    Sep. 2018
  • インターネットを利用して医療情報を収集する医療利用者の特性 外来通院する糖尿病患者を対象に               
    Sep. 2017
  • 高齢認知症患者における観察式痛み評価スケールの文献検討               
    Feb. 2017
  • 認定看護師による摂食・嚥下障害に関するスタッフ育成活動の実態と困難               
    Feb. 2017
  • 長期的回腸ストーマ保有者の日常生活における困難とその対応               
    Jul. 2016

Research Themes

  • E-portfolio for clinical training of medical students which is linked to that of medical residents
    Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
    The University of Tokyo
    01 Apr. 2020 - 31 Mar. 2023
    We have developed and operated CC-EPOC which allows medical students to record their abilities and experiences during their clinical training at any time via smartphones. PG-EPOC for postgraduate medical residents, which was developed prior to CC-EPOC, is used by 90% residents, and CC-POEC by 30% medical students. Although there are some incompatitlity between the national clinical training guideline for medical students and that for medical residents, we have almost succeeded to evaluate abilities and expericeces seamlessly from students to residents, owning to mapping levels of their attainment targets and experices of cases, symptoms, and procedures each other.
  • Communication and roles of accompanying family in geriatric care
    Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
    30 Jun. 2017 - 31 Mar. 2022
    Older patients tend to have many risk factors to make their care more complicated, such as the decline in cognitive and physical functioning, multiple chronic comorbidities, and polypharmacy, while their needs, values, and preferences are diverse. In addition, informal caregivers, such as family members, often play important roles in their care. Thus, close communication and collaboration between patient, family and healthcare professionals is essential to achieve patient-centered care. This study explored health literacy among elderly patients and their family who accompanied to the consultation, the communication during the consultation, and medication adherence. Based on the study findings, we proposed a communication tool and communication skills training program to facilitate collaboration and shared decision making among patient, family and physician.

■University education and qualification information

Qualifications, licenses

  • nurse lisence
  • Public Health Nurse license
  • Obtained a midwife license