ReviewCureus2025
Addressing Social Injustice in Rural Japanese Healthcare: A Narrative Review Informed by Fraser's and Sen's Frameworks.
Review in Cureus, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Rural regions in Japan continue to experience significant health inequities despite universal health insurance coverage. These disparities disproportionately affect older adults, foreign residents, and socially isolated individuals, whose help-seeking is often delayed by structural, cultural, and informational barriers. This narrative review synthesizes empirical research, theoretical perspectives, and practice-based insights to clarify how social injustice manifests in rural Japanese healthcare and to identify strategies for more equitable care. Literature on rural health, health literacy, self-medication, mobility, and community participation was examined and interpreted through the frameworks of redistribution, recognition, and representation, as well as the capability approach. Across studies, persistent geographical barriers, transport limitations, and shortages of healthcare professionals restricted residents' access to timely and appropriate care. Low health literacy, cultural differences, and weak social networks further hindered early help-seeking, particularly among foreign residents and older adults. Opportunities for participation in health decision-making were limited, reinforcing patterns of marginalization. Emerging community-based innovations-including non-profit-hospital collaborations, structured community dialogues, and digital consultation platforms-show potential to redistribute information, enhance cultural understanding, and strengthen residents' capabilities to engage with the healthcare system. These findings suggest that achieving social justice in rural healthcare requires both structural reforms and capability-enhancing interventions that support meaningful participation by marginalized groups. Enhancing transportation, interpreter availability, community health worker programs, and co-designed communication pathways may contribute to a more inclusive and responsive rural healthcare system. This review provides a conceptual foundation for developing multilevel strategies to reduce inequities and promote social justice in rural Japan.
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What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.