R&D PROJECTS

Project Overview

Three problems behind children’s social isolation and loneliness

The following three issues are behind the occurrence of social isolation and loneliness among children. First, children are unable to speak up about their problems for themselves, and therefore those problems go unnoticed by others. Second, there is the burden that the school organization puts on teachers. Although teachers share information concerning children, they tend to be burdened with too much information because they are busy with their daily duties and do not know where or how to connect children. And third, the children who need support are not recognized by support providers, and therefore the necessary support does not reach those children. Teachers find it difficult to connect children to the community resources they require because of the need to protect their personal information. In addition, although community resource activities are actively provided, outreach is difficult and thus support often does not reach the children who really need it.

Using YOSS in schools will identify children’s hidden poverty and stress, prevent teachers from being burdened with too much information, and bring about the application of community resources

In this project, we will develop YOSS (Yamano Osaka Screening System), an AI-based screening system that can identify children’s problems (such as tardiness and failure to respond to treatment recommendations following school physical examinations) at an early stage before they emerge as abuse, delinquency, or other such behavior, and provide a general guide for the provision of support. In addition, we will prepare video content and other materials for classroom teachers and teaching staff to promote their understanding of screening. Furthermore, we will use the project to establish a system for identifying children’s problems and considering support measures based on YOSS. Specifically, we will clarify which of the items regarding children’s issues in YOSS are items for checking and whether support or a response should be considered for them. For those items that are checkable, we will conduct intervention assessments to examine which items present difficulties in terms of providing actual support and establish an evaluation method that visualizes issues likely to lead to children’s social isolation or loneliness or social exclusion. We will introduce the method into school boards and schools and thereby foster a “culture of evaluation” in education. We will then make preparations to build a network among various stakeholders so that they can utilize community resources in supporting children, and begin to take the first step toward creating a comfortable, warm community that enables child-focused interconnection.

Q&A

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

Through this project, we will build an evidence-based circular system (YOSS) that extends from discovery to support. We will achieve this by forming a system that identifies potential problems for children and links them to support based on data, rather than relying on the experience and intuition of individual teachers, in schools where all children are involved based on the principle of “no one left behind.” Through this endeavor, we will help create a society in which it is not just teachers and families who are saddled with problems, as local communities, NPOs, and others can also participate with warmth. And by building this system, we aim to realize a sustainable society capable of providing safety and security to children.

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

There are three main challenges. First, concerns about the protection of personal information may make it difficult to obtain consent for data provision when introducing YOSS. To solve this problem, we will create a manual that will help local governments overcome barriers related to personal information. Second, there is the fact that everyone feels a sense of resistance when starting something new, and that this resistance tends to be magnified in the closed world of schools. To lower this psychological hurdle, we have established methods for providing alternative measures to existing meetings and for setting up ways for learning about available community resources. And third is the problem of securing personnel to guide YOSS. To overcome this problem, we have prepared manuals and DVDs and are studying the design of a framework for training courses.

Participating/Cooperating Institutions

• Osaka Metropolitan University, Tohoku Fukushi University, Gunma University of Health and Welfare, Nihon Fukushi Kyoiku College, Nihon University, Osaka Association of the Life Insurance Association of Japan, Japan Association of Social Work Education, Sakai City Council of Social Welfare, National Children’s Cafeteria Support Center Musubie, Osaka Prefecture, Nose Town (Osaka Prefecture), Kobe City, Okinawa Prefecture, and others.

Report

• FY2021 Research and Development Report (Japanese) (PDF: 479KB)

Related Links

• Research Institute for Evaluation Support of School Social Work