Research Associate
Email: io267@medschl.cam.ac.uk
Background
Ikumi is a medical anthropologist and a qualitative researcher. Previously she worked at the University of Sheffield and the University of Southampton, where she was involved in a wide range of healthcare research.
Ikumi has an MSc in Human Biology and a DPhil in Social and Cultural Anthropology from the University of Oxford. For her doctoral degree, Ikumi conducted anthropological research on cancer patients receiving palliative care in Japan, concerning the cultural aspects of palliative care and the impact of beliefs in dealing with death and dying. Her thesis was based on a detailed ethnographic study of a palliative care unit over 11 months of fieldwork. Since her DPhil, Ikumi has been involved in research on people with life-limiting illnesses (e.g., cancer, end-stage renal disease) and their unpaid carers.
Research Interests
Ikumi has a strong interest in research in palliative and end-of-life care with a particular interest in medical uncertainty, decision-making, continuity of care, home care (dying at home), informal carer givers’ experiences, people’s attitudes towards death and dying, and the concept of ‘good death’.
Selected Publications
Clancy, B., Fader, M., Hislop Lennie, K., Murphy, C., Okamoto, I., & Westbury, J. (2020). Urinary incontinence post radical prostatectomy: what men need to know. Journal of Community Nursing, 34(6)
Avery, M, Prieto, J, Okamoto, I, Cullen, S, Clancy, B, Moor, K, Macaulay, M, Fader, F. (2018), “Reuse of intermittent catheters: a qualitative study of IC users’ perspectives” BMJ Open 2018; 8:e021554. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-021554
Okamoto, I, Prieto, J, Avery, M, Moor, K, Fader, M, Sartain, S, Clancy, B. (2017), “Intermittent catheter users’ symptom identification, description and management of urinary tract infection: a qualitative study” BMJ Open 2017;7:e016453. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-016453
Okamoto, I. (2015) “‘It’s Got to Be the Patient’s Decision’ Practicing Shared Decision-making in the U.K. Renal Unit Anthropology in Action, 22, no.1 (spring 2015): 17-26.
Okamoto, I, Tonkin-Crine, S, Rayner, H, Murtagh, FEM, Farrington, K, Caskey, F, Tomson, C, Loud, F, Greenwood, R, O’Donoghue, DJ & Roderick, P (2014), “Conservative Care for ESRD in the United Kingdom: A National Survey” Clinical journal of the American Society of Nephrology: CJASN., printed online November 2014.
Tonkin-Crine, S, Okamoto, I, Leydon, GM, Murtagh, FEM, Murtagh, FEM, Farrington, K, Caskey, F, Tomson, C, Loud, F, Rayner, H, & Roderick, P (2014), “Understanding by Older Patients of Dialysis and Conservative Management for Chronic Kidney Failure” American Journal of Kidney Diseases: AJKD. 65(3), 443–450.
Fenlon, D., Seymour, K. C., Okamoto, I., Winter, J., Richardson, A., Addington-Hall, J., Corner, J., Smith, P., May, C., Breckons, M. & Foster, C. (2013). “Lessons learnt recruiting to a multi-site UK cohort study to explore recovery of health and well-being after colorectal cancer (CREW study)”. BMC medical research methodology, 13(1), 153.
Wright, P., Fenlon, D., Jones, H., Foster, C., Ashley, L., Chivers Seymour, K., Velikova, G., Okamoto, I., and Brown, J. (2013) “Using the Clinical Research Network for psychosocial cancer research: lessons learned from two observational studies” BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care Published Online First: 19 August 2013
Okamoto, I., Wright, D., Foster, C., (2012) “Impact of cancer on everyday life: a systematic appraisal of the research evidence”. Health Expectations. Volume 15, Issue 1, pages 97–111.
Okamoto, I, (2008) “Tairyoku as a Belief System of Health and Illness: A Study of Cancer Patients in Japan”, Anthropology and Medicine; 15, (3), 239-249.
Okamoto, I, (2008) “Dying a Good Death at a palliative care unit in Japan”, Curare: Journal of Medical Anthropology, 31(1), pp21-28