Abstract
It is not easy for local municipalities to make and implement long-term care prevention policies identifying their priority issues and corrective strategies based on scientific evidence. Part of such difficulty may derive from the absence of practical tools to assist the development of approaches for long-term care prevention. JAGES HEART is designed to serve as a useful tool for a cycle of defining the local agenda, developing policies, implementing programs, testing the programs through monitoring improvement, and revising approaches for further improvement. This paper introduces specific processes for supporting municipalities as they identify their agenda and tackle issues, including examples and research progress.
The recommended process for applying JAGES HEART consists of four steps： (1) setting an agenda, (2) locating target area (s), (3) planning and implementing policies, and (4) assessing the policies.
The significance of JAGES HEART lies in its holistic assistance for municipalities throughout the process of diagnosing the community, addressing the challenges, and assessing the implemented policies by visualizing objective and comparative indices. JAGES HEART has a high potential for use as an evidencebased support tool for developing long-term care prevention approaches, valuing municipalities' independence as well as local knowledge.
