R&D PROJECTS

Project Overview

Connecting people with loneliness and isolation issues to appropriate support through social media-based counseling

Connecting people suffering from loneliness, isolation, and related problems to counseling before their pain becomes even more serious is an important social issue. The importance of non-face-to-face counseling through social media and similar means has increased particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, social media-based counseling does not have the capacity to keep pace with the rapidly increasing number of requests for it. Moreover, social media-based counseling is a relatively new service, and its effectiveness has not yet been fully verified in Japan or overseas. On the other hand, people with difficulties, not only those who are lonely and isolated, face a number of psychological and social barriers before they actually request consultation, and connecting them to a counseling organization is not easy.

Realizing a society free of loneliness and isolation by promoting help-seeking behavior and resolving operational issues in social media-based counseling

To bring about a society in which people with undesired loneliness and isolation can live comfortably, and ultimately to prevent and solve loneliness and isolation and related problems, this project aims to (1) first understand the mechanisms that cause social isolation and loneliness using data from high-risk groups and the general public, (2) then, in a practical manner, identify methods to elicit help-seeking behavior from people suffering from loneliness and isolation, and (3) solve problems in the operation of social media-based counseling for people grappling with problems. To implement (1) through (3) in an integrated manner, the project will develop measures to prevent loneliness and isolation based on the knowledge obtained in step (1), and implement and verify them in the field (i.e., conduct PoC) in steps (2) and (3). An outcome we expect to see from the achievement of these goals is the realization of a society in which people with worries can easily engage in help-seeking behavior without stigma and can always receive prompt and appropriate assistance whenever they actually request help. Ultimately, we aim to provide an environment that enables people with difficulties to receive counseling anytime, anywhere, and to help bring about a society connected to necessary support.

Q&A

Please tell us more about the social vision this project aims to achieve for the primary prevention of social isolation and loneliness.

It has been found that people in a state of severe isolation or loneliness tend to reject others’ attempts to befriend them and even to stop asking for help. This further deepens their isolation and loneliness. It is therefore important for such people to connect with someone before this occurs, but some do not have anyone to connect with or are not good at interpersonal communication. This project aims to prevent isolation and loneliness by creating an environment in which they can easily and safely connect with a counselor online and talk about their feelings.

What are the biggest challenges (bottlenecks) in achieving the social vision above?

To realize our vision of society, we must have people who are likely to fall into isolation and loneliness contact us for social media-based consultation, but this is not so easily done. We are currently studying ways of encouraging people to contact us, but arriving at answers will take time. On the other hand, we sometimes have to keep people waiting during busy times when we receive many counseling requests, and there are occasions when we are not able to handle them. We will need to find technical solutions that allow us to handle as many people as possible and also increase the number of counselors available.

Participating/Cooperating Institutions

• RIKEN, Hitotsubashi University, Wako University, University of Nottingham, and others

Report

• FY2021 Research and Development Report (Japanese) (PDF: 792KB)

Related Links

• Science Japan “As COVID-19 becomes protracted, around 40% of people living in Japan feel loneliness: Higher percentages among young people and those with deteriorating living situations”