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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1470378
This article is part of the Research Topic Youth Mental Health, Particularly in Asian Populations View all 37 articles

Enhancing the Health and Well-being of International Students: Insights from Changes in their Lifestyle Post-COVID-19

Provisionally accepted
  • Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic's global impact has been profound, particularly for vulnerable populations, such as asylum seekers, refugees, and immigrants. Likewise, international students, who fall under the immigrant category umbrella, have faced considerable challenges throughout the pandemic. This study aimed to identify insights for enhancing Japanese international students' health and well-being by investigating how epidemic prevention policies implemented by schools and the government influenced changes in their lifestyles during the post-pandemic era. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted and inductive thematic analysis performed using NVivo software, to investigate the lifestyle changes of 20 (eight male and 12 female) international students (mean age: 31.5 years) at Hiroshima University, Japan, during the postpandemic era. Results: The analysis revealed alterations in lifestyle habits and interpersonal relationships in the aftermath of the pandemic, with most international students continuing to practice some of the epidemic prevention and health behaviors they had adopted during the pandemic, including handwashing (n = 10), mask-wearing (n = 12), and physical distancing (n = 4), as a matter of habit. However, some of these epidemic prevention and health behaviors have not persisted as habits after the pandemic. However, there has been an increased emphasis on maintaining family relationships (n = 5). Discussion: Addressing language and information dissemination barriers that international students may encounter when accessing medical services, and providing them with employment guidance and support more suited to their current situation, are conducive to enhancing their health and well-being. Additionally, enhancing international students' public awareness is crucial for safeguarding their health and preparing them for potential future public health emergencies.

    Keywords: international student, COVID-19, Post-pandemic, Public Health, Well-being, Immigrants

    Received: 14 Aug 2024; Accepted: 03 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Ma, Saita, Kaneko and Okamura. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Hitoshi Okamura, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.