The Research Institute of Nursing Care for People and Community (RINCPC) at University of Hyogo was founded in December 2004 as the first hub of practical research of nursing science in Japan for the purpose of ‘responding to the needs of society, establishing and developing nursing care systems and such according to the characteristics of each of local communities, and proposing its outcome to support lives and living of people’. We received generous contribution and support from many people in and out of the prefecture. We have also received much cooperation and support from nursing professionals and local communities. We believe this is due to the fact that the nursing science is highly counted on for creating a system to provide care to ensure people’s health and life in the community in this time of declining birth rate and aging population.

　RINCPC was started with two divisions: Division of Nursing Practice Development and Division of Broad Scope Nursing Practice, and in 2015, Division of Perinatal Care Development was added. The Division of Nursing Practice Development has been working on researches on various health issues of the people living in the community through practical activities such as ‘Machino Hoken Shitsu’ (town health care room). The Division of Broad Scope Nursing Practice has been conducting researches on health issues of global scale with focus on disaster nursing care and international community nursing care. And the Division of Perinatal Nursing Practice has been working on developments of the methods of midwifery and perinatal nursing care to provide quality care, and training nurses who would be engaged in perinatal nursing care. The research activities of these Divisions are conducted through the collaborations with the faculty and students of the College of Nursing Art and Science, and the Graduate School of Nursing Art and Science, University of Hyogo, as well as nurses of the local communities in addition to the faculty of RINCPC

　With the changes of social environment such as the globalization, the decline of birth rate and aging population, and the global climate and environmental changes, people’s life and health issues are becoming diversified, and the paradigm of the health care is changing dramatically. RINCPC aims to study the way of caring to protect people’s health and support their lives, and disseminate specific plans to realize secure and safe society. We will appreciate your continuous cooperation and supports.