Burnaby residents, along with their Metro Vancouver neighbours, may be at risk from social isolation, according to early results from the My Health My Community survey.
As of mid-February, about 9,000 surveys had been turned in.
About 15 per cent of respondents stated different forms of social isolation contribute to their stress levels.
“If you extrapolate this to the larger population we could be looking at more than 300,000 people in Metro Vancouver having to deal with social isolation,” said Dr. James Lu, Vancouver Coastal Health medical health officer, in a media release. “This means there could be a significant number of individuals who have no people in their network to confide in.”
More than 40 per cent of the respondents stated they did not feel as though they belong to a community.
Early results may have also uncovered a link between recent immigrants and social isolation, as about one in two respondents were recent immigrants to Canada within the last five years and felt socially isolated.
“The My Health My Community survey will give us a clearer picture of the relationship between feelings of connectivity, to the health and well-being of our communities at the neighbourhood level,” said Dr. Victoria Lee, Fraser Health Authority medical health officer.
The My Health My Community survey is a joint project between Vancouver Coastal Health, Fraser Health and the University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine’s eHealth Strategy Office.
The survey asks other questions related to health, including lifestyle choices, community involvement and neighbourhood characteristics. Its purpose is meant to aid municipalities and health authorities in developing policies and programs to promote better health.
The survey can be completed until the end of March.
For more information, visit www.myhealthmy
community.org.
If you know someone suffering from social isolation or depression, help them contact a doctor, community health office or HealthLink B.C. at 811.
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