Project
The Center has two research strands: core research, which looks at long-term prospects, and module research, which flexibly addresses the urgent requirements of particular times and specific individual issues.
Core Research
Kobe well-being study
There are three characteristics of core research. The first is to investigate how to achieve well-being across the human lifespan, from childhood to old age, and the second is to track changes in well-being and its supporting factors throughout life, from birth to death. The third is to ascertain what sort of interactions with people, society, and the environment are generated at each stage of life.
Project Leader: Keiko Katagiri
Module Research
Health Research DivisionHealth Research Division
Analysis of the efficacy of exercise as a contribution to achieving well-being
Content: Good mental and physical health are essential to achieving well-being. A massive body of research has left no room for doubt that exercise contributes to mental as well as physical health, but the scientific evidence remains to be elucidated. In this project, we use exercise, physical agents, which has the same effect as exercise in that it provides physical stimulation, and an “exercise pill” that has the same effect as exercise without actually doing exercise, along with biomarkers, which can be used to prescribe the optimum amount of exercise for specific individuals. Combining these means, we aim to answer the question of whether exercise is effective for promoting health and healing disease in cultured cells, animal disease models, and humans.
Project Leader: Hideki Moriyama
Quantification of physiological condition and nursing skills to assure patient well-being
Recovering from disease or injury and staying well are the most important aspects of well-being. A wide variety of different types of nursing care are provided to support these aims, but few studies have attempted the quantitative evaluation of their implementation. In this project, we are focusing on physiological condition data to assess the effectiveness of nursing care, while also looking at how nurses move, use their bodies, and use equipment in studies that will attempt to quantify nursing skills. Our objective is to use the results for the provision of more appropriate nursing care and professional training. This project is being conducted in collaboration with Kobe University Hospital and the Center for Mathematical and Data Sciences, Graduate School of Engineering, and Graduate School of Maritime Sciences of Kobe University.
Project Leader: Atsue Ishii
Dementia prevention research to improve well-being
In Alzheimer’s disease, pathological changes in the neurons of the brain precede cognitive dysfunction by 20 years. In addition to drug therapy, non-drug therapies such as physical and cognitive rehabilitation are recommended to prevent the onset or progression of dementia. Our research group has established evidence for effective interventions to maintain cognitive function through the J-MINT PRIME Tamba study in Tamba City. We are also developing the CogniCare project to implement these interventions in society. We aim to develop effective rehabilitation programs that include leisure activities such as "travel," which has been attracting attention since the end of the new coronary infection, as well as work and daily living activities that are meaningful to the individual. Through these activities, we aim to conduct research activities that contribute to improving the well-being of individuals, their supporters, and local communities. This project will be conducted in collaboration with faculty of the Graduate School of Health Sciences.
Project Leader: Yuma Sonoda
Development Research Division
Sustainable Community to prevent social isolation of the elderly in urban housing complex
In Japan, families are becoming ever smaller, and the number of older people living in single-person households has been increasing in recent years. Older people who live alone unfortunately have a few contact with family members living separately or with their neighbors, and have been shown to be at high risk of isolation and loneliness. In this project, we are conducting an action research with the aim of building local community network by first creating an opportunities to interact each other among residents in urban housing complex, who are at particularly high risk of isolation.
Project Leader: Keiko Katagiri
Development of a new method for estimating and evaluating social connectedness.
It is well known that social connectedness is important for achieving well-being. However, indices providing an objective measurement of large-scale social connectedness are limited. In this project, our objective is to develop two methods, one for measuring the amount of communication using smartphones, and one for estimating social connectedness by means of a mathematical model from survey data. This project is being conducted in collaboration with NTT West, Kobe City, and Kobe Active Aging Research Hub of the Graduate School of Human Development and Environment.
Project Leader: Kouhei Masumoto
Elucidating the paradox of well-being in later life
Although people experience many losses in old age, it is known that subjective wellbeing is not lower than that of other generations, but rather higher (the paradox of wellbeing in later life). Identifying the reasons for this will improve our understanding of well-being, and this project is proceeding in collaboration with members of a range of different disciplines.
Project Leader: Kouhei Masumoto
Achieving well-being by maintaining habitual exercise
In this project, we will investigate how habitual exercise is involved in achieving lifelong well-being. This project is due to proceed in collaboration with a number of researchers, both from Kobe University and externally.
Project Leader: Kazuhiro Harada
Environmental Research Division
Valuation and conservation of ecosystem services in urban area
With the intensification of urbanization and the negative effect of a shrinking population, urban and suburban ecosystems are becoming more difficult to conserve. However, the importance of ecosystem conservation is internationally recognized. Japan, which is at the forefront of population changes, is facing many issues of urbanization and ecosystem conservation in this sense earlier than other countries. We are engaging with these issues in collaboration with researchers and policy-makers in a variety of disciplines from Japan and overseas.
Project Leader: Masayuki Sato
Research on international infection control measures to improve well-being
Infectious diseases cause health damage at several different levels, and lead to diminished well-being at both the societal and individual levels. In our research group, we are conducting research on infection control measures for human pathogenic viruses, which pose a global-scale public health issue. Our aim is to carry out comprehensive research activities combining field surveys from the macro standpoint with laboratory work from the micro perspective. This project is being conducted in collaboration with faculty of the Graduate School of Health Sciences.
Project Leader: Masanori Kameoka
A multidisciplinary study of social capital and its place that contribute to well-being
Social capital is a crucial determinant of well-being, and this study examines how it can be built in the place of local communities or groups from the social psychological perspective. Currently, the study focuses on landscapes, part of built environment which is under artificial interventions, mainly using computational social scientific techniques on big data. In addition, the study attempts to develop methods for measuring the impact of social capital on individuals’ well-being to make policy recommendations.
Project Leader: Atsuhiko Uchida
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