The Effect of the Positive Feedback Health Check-up on Health Activities of Older Adults: A Case Study of One District in Japan

Kei Toyozawa, Tezukayama University
Tomoko Kinugasa, Kobe University
Yoshihide Fujioka, Kobe University
Atsushi Yamaoka, Kobe University
Minoru Tamura, Tokushima Bunri University, Kobe University
Sana Inoue, University of Human Arts and Sciences
Isamu Saeki, Konan Women’s University

This study focuses on the impact of participation in the Yoitoko check-up, a novel check-up that aims to promote health by praising the actual lifestyle habits of older adults and promoting healthy activities among them. We conduct the Yoitoko check-up in the Maenosho district of Japan, an area where the population is aging rapidly. Considering this, we quantitatively analyze the effect of the Yoitoko check-up on the health-promoting activities of 433 residents of the Maenosho district using an extended probit model corresponding to endogeneity. Empirical analysis reveals a significantly positive relationship between participation in the Yoitoko check-up and the practice of healthy habits that stimulate the body and brain, and healthy activities that stabilize mental health. However, this check-up does not have a significant effect on improving drinking and smoking habits. This result indicates that the Yoitoko check-up brings about certain improvements in physical and mental health habits as well as in daily living functions. In addition, this result also suggests that the Yoitoko check-up, which helps maintain the health of older adults by providing positive feedback on their healthy habits and motivating them to engage in daily activities that promote health, may have been effective.

Keywords: Health and Morbidity, Older Adults and Intergenerational Relations, Population Ageing, Econometrics

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