The “Creative Heath” project, a participatory school activity to foster community resilience, was implemented in Fukushima, Japan, and children’s experiences of the project were assessed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The project consists of three workshops: BODY, FOOD, and ACT, with activities to facilitate students’ scientific and creative thinking, working in teams, presenting, and expressing their opinions. The first two schools participated with 105 students aged 9–11 years old. Before and after each workshop, students were given questionnaires to rate their satisfaction with their own health (BODY), local foods (FOOD), and the community at large (ACT) on a five-level scale, with space to add free comments. Ratings for BODY and FOOD changed significantly, and the proportion of students who increased their rating of an evaluation indicator after each workshop was 25% for BODY, 28% for FOOD, and 25% for ACT. Text analysis of free comments showed that students in the “increased” group appreciated presenting, measuring, learning connections between nutrition and health, and working collaboratively with peers. Children perceived their health and the foods in their community more positively after participating. Moreover, the Creative Health project could be a way to enhance children’s creativity and autonomy as agents of change in the community.

We examined the relationships among social support and psychological variables and investigated the status of social support among villagers whose evacuation order had been lifted. A written questionnaire was posted to 4828 registered residents of Iitate Village; 1405 valid responses were received. The main finding (in joint assessment by local and external experts) was the “need for professional support” (191 respondents, 13.6%). A multivariate analysis found that among those living in permanent housing outside the village, the need for support was significantly more likely for those without emotional support or instrumental support than for those not providing support. The associations between perceived social support and living environment suggest the need to strengthen social support measures in areas where evacuation orders are yet to be lifted, and provide useful information for examining the effects of future support efforts.

Koyama Y, et al. J Glob Health Sci. 2021 Nov;3:e10. https://doi.org/10.35500/jghs.2021.3.e10