Rural Social Participation through Osekkai during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Ryuichi Ohta, Akiko Yata, Yuki Arakawa, Koichi Maiguma and Chiaki Sano
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Ryuichi Ohta: Community Care, Unnan City Hospital, 96-1 Iida, Daito-cho, Unnan 699-1221, Shimane Prefecture, Japan
Akiko Yata: Community Nurse Company, Unnan City, 422 Satokata, Kisuki-cho, Unnan 699-1311, Shimane Prefecture, Japan
Yuki Arakawa: Doctoral Program, Graduate School of Medicine, School of Social Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 17 Chome-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo City, Tokyo 113-8654, Japan
Koichi Maiguma: Department of Law and Economics, Faculty of Law and Literature, Shimane University, 1060 Nishikawatsu cho, Matsue 690-8504, Shimane Prefecture, Japan
Chiaki Sano: Department of Community Medicine Management, Faculty of Medicine, Shimane University, 89-1 Enya cho, Izumo 693-8501, Shimane Prefecture, Japan

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 11, 1-9

Abstract: We investigated the effects of enabling Osekkai, the traditional Japanese behavior of creating a helping culture, on social participation among rural people in rebuilding social connections that can be vital during the coronavirus diseases 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The subjects of this cross-sectional study were people interested in the Osekkai conference (control group) and those actively involved in Osekkai activities (exposure group). The primary outcome of social participation was measured as the frequency of meeting and the number of friends or acquaintances. The demographic data of the participants and process outcomes were measured using a questionnaire provided to all 287 registered participants. The effective response rate was 64.5% (185 responses). The involvement in Osekkai conferences was statistically associated with a high frequency and number of meetings with friends or acquaintances ( p < 0.001 and 0.048, respectively). A health check was significantly associated with the number of friends or acquaintances met in the previous month, while high social support was significantly associated with loneliness. Thus, we confirm that Osekkai contributes to high social participation, although we see no relationship with loneliness. Future studies should investigate this cause-and-effect relationship and promote culturally sensitive activities to improve social and health outcomes in rural Japan.

Keywords: community activity; COVID-19; health promotion; loneliness; Osekkai; social good; social participation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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