HEALTHY HOMES AND COMMUNITIES - WHAT MATTERS WHEN IT COMES TO WELLBEING?
By: Centre for Healthy Communities
January 15, 2022
The COVID-19 pandemic and related public health measures have drawn our attention to how critically important our homes, neighbourhoods, and communities are to our health, wellbeing, and overall quality of life. Our environments shape where we live, work, play, and how we interact with one another - and our environments. Opportunities in these different settings can create and strengthen community vitality, resiliency, and wellbeing - critical considerations for Albertans as we continue to navigate through the pandemic and social recovery. With so many factors influencing our wellbeing, it’s difficult to know what information to attend to most when it comes to our homes and communities.
The Centre for Healthy Communities (CHC), in partnership with the Alberta Real Estate Foundation (AREF), has launched a user-friendly website: www.healthycommunitiesathome.ca to help support healthy homes and healthy communities for Albertans. The site combines scientific and practice-based evidence. It was developed with input by diverse stakeholders across Alberta, all of whom can also use the website. These stakeholders included real estate professionals, urban and rural planners, land developers, consumers, researchers, municipal representatives, community and social organizations, and public health and health services representatives.
How the website was developed?
In 2021 the Centre for Healthy Communities (CHC) completed a literature review to understand what evidence-informed resources and recommendations were currently available to support decision-making for healthy homes and healthy communities. Findings were published in a report, which was used to guide two stakeholder engagement workshops, hosted in June 2021. Workshop discussions and follow-up survey feedback with stakeholders helped to identify healthy home and healthy community criteria for the website, as well as resources, recommendations and examples.
Website focus
The website highlights nine common factors that support healthy homes and healthy communities. These nine key factor pages summarize key points and terms, with example criteria and recommendations. Connections to existing supports and programs are also highlighted throughout the website. Each of these nine factors are also aligned with three key societal areas of concern: environmental stewardship, economic recovery, and COVID-19 pandemic recovery. The global climate crisis, economic instability and recession, and the myriad of health and other impacts brought about by COVID-19 underscore the need for innovative and proactive strategies to create supportive communities that protect and bolster wellbeing. When we think about creating healthy homes and communities, we need to consider how we can incorporate efforts to protect the environment and build an economically sustainable future. In a time of dramatic local and global change, there is an opportunity to re-envision how we shape our communities and revive our economy to optimize our collective health and wellbeing.
Next steps
Within its current scope, the website is meant to support stakeholders in developing a common language and knowledge about key factors that support healthy communities and homes in Alberta. With future additional resources and funding, the CHC aims to continue to build this website over the coming years, adding new up-to-date information as it becomes available, examples to support and inspire, resources for communities, and interactive media (e.g., podcasts, videos, learning modules). To learn more about the project, visit the website at www.healthycommunitiesathome.ca or contact the Centre for Healthy Communities at healthy.communities@ualberta.ca
This project was made possible through a grant from the Alberta Real Estate Foundation. The Alberta Real Estate Foundation invests in real estate policy, research, practices, and education that strengthen Alberta’s communities. The Foundation’s revenues come from the interest earned on public money deposited in real estate brokers’ pooled trust accounts. Learn more at www.aref.ab.ca