Cohort Profile: The Community Empowerment and Care for Well-being and Healthy Longevity Study

The Community Empowerment and Care for Well-being and Healthy Longevity (CEC) Study is an ongoing, multigenerational, population-based cohort designed to evaluate community-driven lifespan developmental care in a rapidly aging society. Conducted in Village T, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, whose demographic structure broadly resembles national patterns, the study includes residents from infancy to older adulthood. Since 2017, the CEC Study has maintained three age-specific sub-cohorts (0-19, 20-64, and ≥65 years), integrating questionnaire surveys, health examinations, home visits, and administrative records from medical, health, and long-term care systems. A total of 4,638 residents participated in the baseline survey, with 4,079 subjects responding. The study adopts a community empowerment approach, in which residents serve as co-designers and co-implementers of local health initiatives through workshops, monitoring activities, and public feedback sessions. Triennial follow-up surveys and continuous administrative data linkage enable long-term tracking of health trajectories and contextual influences across the life course. The dataset provides detailed information on physical and cognitive function, mental health, lifestyle, social participation, and environmental factors. Although generalizability may be greatest for regions with demographic and socioeconomic profiles similar to Village T, the CEC Study offers a valuable platform for evaluating real-world, community-led health strategies. Its integration of longitudinal data with empowerment-oriented practice provides insights relevant to evidence-based community health policy and global healthy aging initiatives.