Mental health promotion is one type of wellbeing initiatives for people to enhance their positive mental health rather than to treat clinical symptoms. It has also been helpful for promoting psychological recovery from the after-effects of experiencing disasters. We developed a mental health promotion campaign named “ABC activities for the mind” as a way to promote resilience post-disasters, such as Japanese earthquakes. In this paper, two case studies applied to general adults and medical staff managing patients with COVID-19 were introduced as population-wide approaches of mental health promotion. Cases of mental health problems are increasing as the spread of infection continues. The conventional approach to mental health services presents with limitations due to the restriction of contact and interaction between people under the current pandemic situation. Therefore, it is favorable to develop a new type of intervention. We tried to use informative media by developing message-posters based on “ABC activities for the mind”, emotional regulation technique such as Stop-Relax-Think, and implementation intentions known as If-Then Plans. Online surveys were administered to 1,020 general adults and 607 medical staff to evaluate each message-poster. The evaluation consisted of two sections using Likert-type scales : one section involved their reactions towards the posters, evaluating the amount of perusal, their knowledge, their views of social norms, attitude, motivation, self-efficacy, and intention ; and the other measured the level of stimulation received, such as acceptability, utility, and extent of memory retention. Findings indicated that for general adults, ratings differed significantly according to the degree of social contact, whereas among medical staff, they differed according to the COVID-19 involvement of hospitals where they work. This intervention concluded that population-wide mental health promotion campaigns in COVID-19, although ongoing, can positively impact the wellbeing of the overall population.

  This paper will discuss how to realize mindfulness and soothe the mind and brain. While explaining from the perspective of “not closing the mind,” “not being swallowed up,” “self-as-process or awareness of the present moment,” and “self-as-context or awareness of the field of experience,” I illustrate how to realize mindfulness referring the transition from focused meditation to observation meditation practice. Then, how the practice of mindfulness changes the brain to produce clinical effects is explained while introducing our research using an EEG model of mind wandering.

  Numerous epidemiological studies indicate that physical activity strongly influences cognitive function among older adults. This association is supported by several intervention studies. Worldwide, approximately 13% (nearly 4.3 million) of AD cases may be attributable to physical inactivity. A 10% reduction in the prevalence of physical inactivity could potentially prevent more than 380,000 AD cases globally. In comparison, a 25% reduction in physical inactivity prevalence could potentially prevent nearly 1 million AD cases globally, indicating the degree of impact of physical activity on dementia. The present article will review and discuss the association between physical activity, including physical functioning, and cognition to understand the effect of physical inactivity.

   “PARO” aims to be a “substitute for pets” in general households and a “substitute for animal therapy” in the medical and welfare fields. PARO is a “welfare device” in Japan, and a “biofeedback medical device” in the United States and Europe, where medical welfare systems are different. As for infection prevention and control, PARO’s artificial fur is treated with antibacterial and antiviral processing that contains silver ions so that it can be used in isolation wards for patients with weak immune systems. The VA hospitals in the US and the National Health Service in the UK evaluated and approved the cleaning and disinfection protocol of PARO. PARO has been used in home care and medical care for from children to the elderly with various diseases and disabilities, as well as medical and welfare facilities for from advanced acute to chronic and end-of-life care in more than 30 countries around the world, even during the corona pandemic. Regarding the therapeutic effects of PARO, evidence was accumulated from the results of clinical trials including randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in various countries and the results of meta-analyses. In the UK, PARO was listed as a treatment with high-quality evidence in the “NICE guidelines” for “dementia” as a “non-pharmacological treatment”. In this paper, I will describe the evidence and how PARO is being incorporated into medical and welfare systems around the world. In addition, as an initiative to address social issues, PARO has been used to provide emotional support to victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake and other disasters, as well as refugees from Ukraine to Poland following the invasion of Russia.

  Biofeedback devices that control the natural sound volume and promote sleep are widely available. Studies have reported that these devices help improve sleep onset in people with difficulties in falling asleep. Using a vibrating body massage is also known to improve circulation. In passive music therapy, vibrating devices and devices that effectively modify sound sensations are combined to promote sleep. We developed a sleep-promoting biofeedback device that incorporates physical vibrations. The device produces vibrations and a high-quality acoustic signal when a thin vibrator and a sensor are placed under the pillow. The biosensor in this device detects the onset of sleep and reduces sound and vibration intensity according to the participants’ wakefulness level. We expected this device to shorten the sleep onset latency. The results of a verification study indicated that participants evaluated sound and vibration attenuation by feedback control from this device as comfortable, suggesting that the device could improve participants’ sleep onset latency. The results also indicated that the device could be used as a biofeedback treatment technique because the participants can learn to relax their muscles when the volume and vibration decrease. Biofeedback technology facilitates controlling and recognizing people’s physical and emotional states. We propose that this device could increase a person’s ability to fall asleep comfortably and quickly.