Bone and Joint Japan （B＆J-J）Award to Six Projects for 2019 Orthopaedic Health Promotion Campaign

A project named ”Walker” by the “Oval Heart Japan Association” of Tokyo was chosen as the Best Program out of 29 entrants for the 6th annual competition sponsored by B&J-J (President Yukihide Iwamoto M.D., Executive Director Takashi Matsushita M.D.) and received a plaque and prize of 1 million yen (approx. US$9,400) at the presentation ceremony in Tokyo on January 27, 2018. They were followed by 5 runners-up which equally contributed to improve prevention of bone and joint disorders and the quality of life for those affected.

The Walker project started as one of the numerous supportive activities to survivors of the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011 which forced a large number of people to live in provisional housing for a very long time. Fearing disuse syndrome among the elderly, the Walker group worked to make them aware of the importance of walking by individual coaching to develop basic physical fitness and walking with ease.

Based on their experience in East Japan, the Walker group has been expanding activities to the other parts of Japan since 2013 to promote healthy life-style in the aging society.