[Community development for health and well-being through multi-stakeholder collaboration in Yotsukaido City: Achievements and challenges related to the collective impact framework over the first year].

Abstract

Objectives　The Health Japan 21 initiative (third term) requires establishing an environment that allows people of all ages to lead healthy lives without excessive exertion. Such environments should be created by local governments, in collaboration with multiple stakeholders. Such initiatives carry the potential for collective impact, wherein multiple stakeholders with varying perspectives work together to solve societal challenges. However, research institutions rarely join backbone organizations to direct such collective impacts in Japan. Herein, we describe the first year (2023) of the health community development initiatives conducted by the Department of Community Building for Well-being, jointly established by the Center for Preventive Medical Sciences of Chiba University and Iwabuchi Pharmaceutical Co. in Yotsukaido City (Chiba Prefecture), and aim to demonstrate their results, achievements, challenges, and future prospects, in line with the concept of collective impact.Methods　The results, achievements, and challenges related to the initiatives were organized in alignment with the five conditions of collective success: backbone support organizations, continuous communication, mutually-reinforcing activities, common agendas, and shared measurement systems.Results　We established a joint research department in April 2023, and hosted a commemorative symposium to establish it. We then organized 15 lectures focused on health community development. We collaborated with several companies, Yotsukaido City, local residents, and community organizations. We ultimately launched the "Yotsuba Project" through the various initiatives undertaken in 2023. This project emphasizes collaboration between multiple stakeholders.Conclusion　Through our activities in 2023, we established an operational structure with the main team from Chiba University and Iwabuchi Pharmaceutical Co. as the backbone support organizations. Through continuous communication, a network was established between multiple stakeholders, including Yotsukaido City. Various examples of collaboration between stakeholders took place that exemplified the principles of mutually-reinforcing activities. The major challenges related to the project include the way it is run, the large number of people involved, the common agenda of promoting the concept of the "Yotsuba Project," and the need to share measurement systems. Through our efforts, we hope to promote the creation of health and well-being communities for people of all ages, contribute to realizing the "Healthy Japan 21 (third term)" vision, and create a robust model that can be applied by other local governments as well.