Overview

For creating a society that prevents social isolation and loneliness

This program promotes clarification of the mechanisms of social isolation and loneliness considering the various changes in the social structure, such as population decline, low birthrate, aging society, economic changes, and the impact of emerging infectious diseases such as COVID-19, while producing the vision of a society that prevents social isolation and loneliness. This program furthermore promotes R&D on visualization and evaluation methods (indicators, etc.) for the risk of social isolation and loneliness in people and groups, as well as social schemes to prevent social isolation and loneliness. This program expects such R&D to be conducted in an integrated way up to Proof of Concept (PoC), including the verification of the effectiveness of preventive measures against social isolation and loneliness by using the evaluation methods (indicators, etc.) developed in each project.

This program aims for a society that does not lead to social isolation and loneliness by creating diverse social connections and networks among people, organizations, and communities.

In particular, the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 made it difficult for people to engage in direct face-to-face interactions. As a result, social isolation and loneliness have become more apparent and intensified, particularly in situations where the response to the sudden physical divide was inadequate or delayed. In addition, individuals and groups that were previously less susceptible to social isolation and loneliness are now at increased risk of falling into such states.

It will be necessary to pursue desirable connections and networks in with-corona and post-corona societies, and to proactively build such networks.

Integrated Promotion of Three R&D Elements

This program is structured to execute all processes leading to the PoC (Proof of Concept) at the sites, integrating research knowledge with practical insights from the field. Emphasis is placed on elements that require in-depth research and development to understand social mechanisms, using knowledge from the humanities and social sciences.

Specifically, the program supports integrated research and development that includes the elements listed in (1), (2), and (3) below. To move beyond mere conceptual research, the program will explore concrete proposals in various settings (specific regions, schools, workplaces, and communities in Japan), especially in the research and development element (3), to demonstrate the social schemes for preventing social isolation and loneliness.

(1) Understanding the mechanisms of social isolation and loneliness and producing a new vision of society does not lead to social isolation and loneliness.

This program examines the behavior, psychology, and social background of people and groups. It analyzes what mechanisms cause social isolation and loneliness and the state of society including from the perspective of those in situations of social isolation and loneliness. Based on the results of this study, the social isolation and loneliness to be prevented will be clarified, and the vision of a new society that does not lead to social isolation and loneliness will be produced.

(2) Visualizing social isolation and loneliness risks for people and groups and developing evaluation methods (indicators, etc.)

This program aims to develop visualization and evaluation methods (indicators, etc.) for early detection of the risk of social isolation and loneliness among people and groups to realize the vision of society envisioned in R&D element (1).

(3) Social schemes to prevent social isolation and loneliness

This program will develop social mechanisms (preventive measures) to minimize social isolation and loneliness, and conduct evaluations and demonstrations in specific regions, schools, workplaces, and communities in Japan based on the methods (such as indicators) for visualizing and assessing the risk of social isolation and loneliness developed in the research and development element (2).