Locomotive Syndrome / LOCOMO is a new healthcare concept for the aging society. It has become a social issue that Japan should tackle by our PR and stakeholder engagement initiatives. 80% of core target is aware and those who understand LOCOMO exercise 3 times more than those who do not.

Japan’s Pharmaceutical Affairs Act does not allow a healthcare company to appeal a medicine’s effectiveness in any type of advertisement. Only trusted third parties such as doctors and media can tell the effectiveness against a disease, so PR is perceived as an effective way for healthcare communication.

Defining the lifestage before becoming bedridden as a unique period, clarifying the symptoms of the orthopedic dificiencies, giving it a name and a solution, and allowing people to recognize it can make an issue out of this problem. First, we gave the symptoms a name, Locomotive Syndrome, and nicknamed it LOCOMO. Then, we invented a simple test that anyone can challenge anywhere; stand up from a chair on one foot. According to the level of symptoms, orthopedists diagnose for a set of excersize or medical care. The simplicity of the word and concept, along with the shocking fact that 1 out of 3 Japanese citizens are at risk of LOCOMO quickly caught attention of media, gained target recognition and affected their behavior change.

- We involved many media by press releases and events, appealing that the LOCOMO is a major crisis of super-aging-society Japan.

-With the fact that 1/3 of the population is at risk of LOCOMO, we provoked a counteraction business opportunity. More than 120 companies developed products and services, which then self-promoted LOCOMO through their product promotions.

- We engaged more than 700 local governments across the country by the simple LOCOMO Risk Test tool and they held seminars of LOCOMO.

- Our initiatives appealed to orthopedic surgeons nationwide, which grew to over 1,500 "LOCOMO Advice Doctors" in all the 47 prefectures in Japan.

- We held seminars for local residents to train 3,000 “Evangelistic LOCOMO Mates”.

- We urged the Japan government and Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare adopted LOCOMO as one of the national health goals, which is “80% of Japanese are aware of LOCOMO by 2023.”

Tier 1: Media Outputs

- 1.0 billion impressions were earned through Japanese media: TV programs featuring healthcare, talk shows, news programs, national newspapers, and healthcare magazines / websites.

- LOCOMO was reported as a serious social problem faced by Japan, a very rapidly aging society, pioneering the global aging issue. Many news anchor and celebrities challenged the simple LOCOMO Risk test, were unable to stand up from the chair on one leg, and their shocked faces were reported as clear news of locomotive organ failures.

Tier 2: Target Audience Outcomes

- LOCOMO awareness among our target (females in their 70 's, with the highest risk of LOCOMO) achieved 80%.

- Those who understood LOCOMO were noticed to be exercising three times more than those who do not understand LOCOMO.

Tier 3: Business Outcomes

- A third-party research showed that the size of the market for LOCOMO related products and services reached 1.3 billion USD.

- A WHO Director, Dr. John Beard, visited to watch LOCOMO initiatives and evaluated LOCOMO Challenge as "an advanced healthcare initiative, seen nowhere else in the world. ", which was reported on a national major newspaper, Mainichi Shimbun.

- Locomotive Syndrome is listed in the latest edition of The Kojien, one of the most famous and authoritative dictionaries in Japan.

Our strategy was to involve multi-dimensional stakeholders under the common banner of LOCOMO Challenge, revitalize the discussion, make LOCOMO a national concern, and initiate countermeasures. To build a social goal, we fomed together with the Japanese Orthopaedic Association an NPO “LOCOMO Challenge Council" for PR and stakeholder engagement.

The core story for PR was the fact that one third of the whole Japanese population are at risk of LOCOMO, and the promotion of the simple test of standing up from a chair on one foot.

Our core target is female in her 70’s with the highest risk of LOCOMO, and the target media is mass media reaching these elderlies, that is, TV programs featuring healthcare, talk shows, news programs, national newspapers, healthcare magazines / websites. These media welcomed actionable contents, and many TV shows on-aired the LOCOMO test with renowned personels.

Japan’s aging rate (over 65 yrs) is 27%. In Japan, the most progressing aging society, elderly people are being trapped in bed unable to walk for years before they meet their death. This resulted in a shortage of hospital beds, an increase in national medical expenses, and a burden on the nursing families, which had become a major social problem. The weakening of limbs starts in the 40’s, but everyone is convinced that he or she is still fine. The lifespan of human beings has doubled in the past 100 years due to medical advances, but the human body is not designed to live over 80 years, and neither are our limbs. The Japanese Orthopaedic Association wanted to raise this issue to the Japanese society, take measures, and make awareness toward the importance of locomotive organs before it’s too late and so many people become bedridden.