[The development of rural medicine: medical activities of Saku Hospital].
Saku Hospital in Usuda-machi of Nagano Prefecture is famous for its medical activities for rural people. The activities of Saku Hospital were practiced not only in the hospital but also in the local community. Immediately after the establishment of the hospital, in 1945, doctors and nurses visited patients in their homes. In the medical activities, at the village, the hospital staff discovered a lot of latent diseases among the rural people. To clarify these diseases, the staff surveyed the life of the villagers based on medical ecology, as well as the medical treatment. Latent diseases were analyzed from a medical and social viewpoint. As a result, the staff came to recognize the importance of the prevention of disease, as well as medical treatment. To prevent diseases, the hospital started health promotion activities in the 1950s, cooperating with the administration of the villages. Medical examination were carried out periodically and health education was promoted to improve the consciousness of the people regarding health. Medical activities of Saku Hospital, which were not limited to clinical medicine, proved "prevention is superior to treatment." This conclusion teaches us the importance of social medicine as well as that of biomedicine and indicates the way of future medical activities.
Sugiyama
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D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006780:Hospitals, Rural / Q000266:history*; D007564:Japan; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000266:history*