We are at a pivotal time where the world is carefully and optimistically opening up, and though we may still be in the midst of the ongoing ebb and flow of the pandemic with continued social distance measures, this does not mean we cannot be socially connected. Many of us however have been disconnected and isolated, and though the trend was being experienced long before the pandemic, the pandemic has created and exacerbated the problem.
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“While we are connected in new ways electronically, I think that sometimes comes at the expense of personal connection and that is a big challenge” – Dr. Trevor Hancock
5 years ago, the Tamarack Institute wrote about a film crew seeking to examine community connectedness and the important role it plays in our lives, health, and well-being. With contributions from Tamarack’s Co-CEO Paul Born and Dr. Trevor Hancock, this award-winning documentary, “The Great Disconnect” was launched. Since its official launch in October 2019, the film has screened across Canada through multiple municipalities, non-profits, educational institutions and NGOs, and has been shown in ten countries across Europe. This film invites reflection on the relationships we have with those around us and raises the question: Is it possible to overcome our modern culture of disconnectedness and rediscover how truly essential we are to one other?
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Pre-COVID, there was growing evidence that loneliness was becoming a problem across all populations across Canada. It was being recognized as a public health issue.
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What does meaningful youth engagement look like? How can we engage youth in community change? What are common youth engagement challenges and how do you overcome them? These are a few of the questions that we asked as we launched Communities Building Youth Futures (CBYF), Tamarack’s strategy to enable youth engagement and community change in 13 communities across Canada. Youth leadership and engagement are crucial components of this collective impact strategy and so, CBYF launched a Commitment to Youth Engagement.
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As we have all pivoted and learned to live in a COVID-19 era, the associated need for physical distancing and other monumental behavioural shifts have taken a toll on Canadians’ mental health.
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Humans are social beings and are hardwired to want to be with people. When we are born, we thrive on connections but as we age those connections become harder and harder to keep leading us to be lonely. Loneliness can affect anyone but is more common amongst older persons 65 and older. The 2013 StatsCan study indicates that 1 in 3 individuals over the age of 65 are lonely. Additionally, a 2019 Angus Reid report indicated that those who are 55+ with incomes of less than $50,000 were twice as likely to be both lonely and isolated, and were more than twice as likely to be single and living alone.
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