Qualitative Analysis of Potential Health Benefits of Social Capital in Rural Community - Based on Data Obtained Through Group Interviews with Old People
10.2185/jjrm.63.723
- VernacularTitle:農村における健康に資するソーシャル・キャピタルの質的分析
- Author:
Chiyo INOUE
;
Shuichiro WATANABE
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- From:Journal of the Japanese Association of Rural Medicine
2015;63(5):723-733
- CountryJapan
- Language:Japanese
-
Abstract:
This study was conducted to identify regional characteristics of salubrious aspects of social capital in a rural community. For this purpose, group interviews took place with three groups, each consisting of six to nine people aged 65 and older in Village A and what those interviewees said with reference to social capital were analyzed qualitatively and descriptively. A total of 610 views were extracted and organized into 141 codes, from which 20 codes that seemed to characterize the rural community in general were sampled and were divided into four categories and eight subcategories. The four categories were made up of “communing with nature,” “maintaining a relationship of trust among community members,” “regarding social norms highly,” and “encouraging social intercourse among individuals and families, and networking.” Thebenefits of social capital in the village to the health showed characteristics of Japanese rural communities - close links among community members who have communed with nature. There were plenty of indications showing a solidarity type of social capital based on a shared territorial bond strengthened in the milieu of a rural community where people had kept cultivating lands from generation to generation. There were also indications that a growing number of people had become aware of the need to strengthen networking from the viewpoint of a bridge type of social capital. The present study has afford us useful hints for maintaining the health of the aged in rural areas as well as for building a community very pleasant to live in.
