Background
One out of three persons in Japan will be an old person in a few years. Half of those older persons still do not utilize internet, smart phone apps or digital technology. Whereas more than 70 % of the seniors in the Republic of Korea (ROK) use internet and 55 % in Singapore, in 2019. The use of digital technology for health promotion has the potential to promote individual and community empowerment, advocating for healthy active ageing. Research questions are (1) what are the contextual influences of digital inclusion? (2) what are its consequences on healthy ageing.
Objective
This study aims to measure digital skill of the older persons in Japan, Korea, Singapore and Thailand, in order to identify paths and association between digital inclusion and older persons’ participation in health promotion and health-related quality of life.
Quantitatively digital skill, e-health literacy, participation in health promotion and quality of life will be analyzed in structural equation models.
Expected results
Empowerment models to minimize the policy gaps
Aung MN, Koyanagi Y, Nagamine Y, Nam EW, Mulati N, Kyaw MY, Moolphate S, Shirayama Y, Nonaka K, Field M, Cheung P. Digitally Inclusive, Healthy Aging Communities (DIHAC): A Cross-Cultural Study in Japan, Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Thailand. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022 Jun 7;19(12):6976.
杉並区保健生協高齢者コホート研究（杉並スタディ）Community Based Social Innovation (CBSI) for Healthy Ageing (Suginami Study)
Background
WHO definition of CBSI refers to initiatives that seek to empower older people to improve their self-efficacy in caring for themselves and their peers, maintain their well-being and promote social cohesion and inclusiveness.
Objective
The study regarded a community as the CBSI, group exercise activities for care prevention as CBSI-1, and social/cultural activities as CBSI-2 that include hobbies such as reading, chorus, and knitting. It was analyzed to determine management form, the environment surrounding the elderly, and the relationship between CBSI and QOL.
Methods
A mixed method was performed for the elderly of the Suginami Health Co-op.
Findings
The study revealed that CBSI-1 provided the opportunity to reduce loneliness and maintain social connections among older community members. CBSI-2 functioned as a place to share values based on hobbies, increased the independence of the elderly, and helped them enjoy a life based on their interests.
Conclusion
We developed the CBSI model that guarantees QOL of the elderly.
＊Healthy ageing: A concept defined by WHO that refers to maintaining the functional ability depending on the value of the elderly.
Aung MN, Koyanagi Y, Ueno S, Tiraphat S, Yuasa M. Age-friendly environment and community-based social innovation in Japan: A mixed-method study. The Gerontologist. 2022 Feb;62(1):89-99.
Background
Unlike mental health caused by the electrochemical reaction in the brain, Spiritual Health (SH), which is defined as the meaning and the purpose of life, has already been demonstrated in many overseas studies to be closely related to health and QOL. The WHO has also discussed adding the SH to the definition of health as a fourth health following physical, mental and social health. Despite the agreement of many countries, the addition was postponed due to the abstention of cautious minority countries such as Japan, which has little research on SH and no common understanding among the people.
Objective
What kind of SH is suitable for Japanese people whose religion is ambiguous and has their own view of life and death? This study hypothesized that “self-selection of life way” could be an alternative definition to that question. In order to prove this hypothesis, the study firstly examines overseas literature to sort out the definition, classification, and measurement method of SH, and then conduct a survey of the attitudes and recognition on the SH among ordinary people and medical professionals in Asia and Japan. From an academic and interdisciplinary point of view, the study aims to propose a definition of SH that iwould be suitable for Japanese people.
Methods
(1) To Review scientific articles related to the SH published not only in English but also in Spanish, Arabic, Hindu, Urdu, Thai, and Chinese languages, and categorize the definitions in other countries. (2) To compile measurement methods and classifications by reviewing the literature. (3) To conduct an awareness survey on the SH for the general people in Asia and Japan, and extract the characteristics that the Japanese recognize through comparison between other Asian countries and Japan. (4) To conduct an awareness survey on the SH and its opposite concept, Spiritual Pain (SP), for Japanese medical professionals (especially those engaged in home medical care and terminal care), and extract the characteristics that medical professionals recognize. (5) Based on the above literature review and survey results, the characteristics of Japanese SH and SP are analyzed interdisciplinarily from the perspectives of religious studies, cross-cultural communication, public health, clinical medicine, and psychology. We result in proposing a definition and classification suitable for Japanese people.