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Key words health status, social identification, health surveys
Author
Nancy Ross (514-398-4307) is with McGill University and the Social and Economic Studies Division at Statistics Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, K2A 0T6.
[Symbol Not Transcribed] Researchers have known for some time that social relationships are important for good health.
[Symbol Not Transcribed] This study examines the relationship between individuals sense of belonging to their local community and their self-perceived health. Even after taking account of a range of other factors, Canadians' sense of community belonging is associated with health.
For some time, research has shown that people who feel attached to and interact with others enjoy better health than do those who are more isolated.(1)(2)(3) Some of the best evidence of the benefits of social connections comes from a large study of residents of Alameda County, California through the late 1960s and 1970s. This research indicated that people who reported ties to the community (measured by the numbers of friends and acquaintances, and volunteer and religious affiliations) experienced lower rates of disease and death, compared with people without such links, even when taking into account differences in socio-economic status, health behaviours and the use of health care services.(1) Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, further study demonstrated an association between lack of social relationships and poor health outcomes.(2)(3)
More recently, interest in the concept of "social capital" and its association with good health has been growing.(4)(5) Social capital has numerous meanings: at its most basic level, the term refers to the notion that relationships with others have important implications for well-being.(9) Individuals can possess social capital by having a large network of friends and acquaintances, but social capital can also be thought of as a type of social savvy. In the broader context, many researchers consider social capital to comprise properties of a community, which are indirectly linked to health.(10) So, for example, communities with high levels of social capital might be those that offer opportunities for interaction and that have well-developed public resources such as parks, libraries and recreational facilities.
According to one observer, the drop in memberships in major civic organizations and in socializing with neighbours over the past two decades is an indicator that social capital is on the decline, at least in the...