The Effects of Participating in Community Events on Health in the Mountainous Area: Empirical Research Based on Questionnaire for Inhabitants in Yamanouchi Area, Himeji, Hyogo

<p>In Japan mountainous areas’ population aging is more pronounced than in urban areas. Therefore, supporting community sustainability through health maintenance is critical.</p><p>This study examines whether participating in community events leads to subjective health. We focused on the Yamanouchi area of Yumesaki-cho, Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture, which is mountainous area and where population aging and depopulation is serious. With the theme of “town development for longevity and health,” multiple universities are participating in practical research projects in this area, such as a new health checkup, “Health Checkup Project through adding points to Goodness in Daily Life.” We hypothesized that joining community events actively and concerning to have connections with people outside their area, such as university students, lead good health. In 2019 and 2021, we conducted questionnaire surveys targeting all households in the Yamanouchi area and clarified the effects of joining community events and knowing local events related to university students on subjective health. We consider the endogeneity of variables related to events and conducted empirical analysis based on extended ordered probit model.</p><p>Our empirical results supported our hypothesis. We found that inhabitants who join more community events or those who know of more events with university students tend to evaluate their health more favorably, and the effects were statistically significant. Thus, we deduce that actively planning community events will be beneficial for inhabitants’ health in the area. In addition, it is possible that university students’ participation in community development is effective for inhabitants’ health. In the mountainous areas where the population is decreasing, continuing community events could prove difficult, but it would be important to consider their impact on health and encourage various events as far as possible.</p>