A community is a group of people who share things in common and care deeply about each other. They work closely together towards a common purpose that they feel passionate about.
A healthy community provides a number of important benefits that help improve our emotional state and relationships. Here are a few of them:
Sense of Belonging
Belonging is an important social need that contributes to good health, happiness, and a positive sense of self. It also can help people avoid negative feelings, such as anxiety and depression.
Belonging to a group or community can be a natural and powerful way of feeling connected to others, especially if it is supported by a strong social support system. This is particularly true at school, where students may feel that they are part of a community and have access to the resources they need.
To feel a sense of belonging, people need to be able to connect with others in an authentic way and to feel accepted by everyone. The best way to do this is through active listening and open conversation.
This can include discussing new ideas, making small talk and self-disclosing skillfully. It can also include accepting others who may think differently than you do.
Having a sense of belonging can be difficult to achieve when you don’t have a strong social network or are struggling with your mental health, so it’s important to seek professional support from your doctor or therapist if you’re feeling low or lonely. The right therapy can be the key to overcoming loneliness and feeling like you belong in your community.
A strong sense of belonging can help a person to thrive in a society where many different groups and cultures coexist. It can also help them to develop a stronger sense of identity, which is important for them to be successful and productive in their academic and professional lives.
In addition, people who feel they belong in a group or community often perform better at work because they have a supportive and safe place to share their ideas and opinions. In fact, inclusive leaders who foster belonging at work are 2.5 times more likely to have teams that produce high-quality results.
As a result, it is vital for businesses to understand how to promote belonging and to provide opportunities for employees to have a genuine sense of belonging at work. This can be done by implementing workplace programs to encourage employees to have a good experience at work and by providing employee surveys that measure their experience.
Sense of Community
A sense of community is a key element in successful communities (successful means active, engaged communities that people want to visit and contribute to on a regular basis). It includes membership, influence, fulfillment of needs and emotional connection.
To create a sense of community, members must feel accepted for who they are and know that they can turn to others for support in times of need. They must also be encouraged to share their experiences, which is a powerful way to build empathy and foster compassion for those around them.
For example, if you are struggling to find an emotional outlet, joining a yoga class or meditation group can help you connect with other people who share your interest in spirituality. Or if you are interested in politics, a political cause can give you something to believe in and bring you together with like-minded individuals.
In a society where people are increasingly feeling isolated, a sense of community can be a powerful force. It can be a force for good, bringing neighbors together and making life easier for everyone. It can also be a force for harm, as seen in neo-Nazi organizations and vigilante groups who use the power of community to target those they see as enemies.
Many studies have looked at the role that sense of community plays in health and wellbeing. They have shown that a greater sense of community can lead to greater involvement in participatory processes for the resolution of issues, and contribute to better self-rated general and mental health outcomes.
However, they have also pointed out some of the limitations of using sense of community as a measure. First, it is a single item that can be difficult to incorporate into longer surveys. Second, it is not a standardized measurement.
The authors of this study found that lower community belonging is associated with more problems with the health-care system, specifically problems related to cost, access, choice and satisfaction. The relationship was strongest among older age groups, immigrants and those in lower income quintiles, as well as non- or former smokers.
Chances to Learn
Getting to know your community partners can be an eye opening experience. It’s akin to learning that you are not alone in this great big world. When you get to the nitty gritty, your mates can become a source of much needed support and inspiration. You also have a chance to flex your civic engagement muscles in the most meaningful way possible. The benefits of having a community partner can extend well beyond the project deadline, and the quality of the resulting community can be measured in tangible ways such as better grades, less stress, and higher engagement and participation levels.
Sense of Safety
Having a sense of safety is an important part of wellbeing. It contributes to your mental health, social connections and physical activity levels – so it’s crucial to ensure that you feel safe when you step out of your home and into the neighborhood.
Sense of Safety has been shown to be linked to economic inequality, social capital and civic engagement (SEM). These factors are all community structural factors, and therefore they can influence people’s perceptions of safety.
In communities characterized by high inequality, people have lower social capital and less civic engagement, causing them to report a lower sense of safety. In contrast, communities characterized by low inequality and high social capital and civic engagement tend to report higher levels of sense of safety.
The factors that make up your sense of safety can vary depending on your community, but generally include:
There is a wide range of environmental features that people see around them that could influence their feelings about safety in their community. This includes sidewalk quality assessed by third party raters, county-level crime rates, and perceived neighborhood disorder.
This study examined relationships between these environmental features and participants’ perceptions of safety among a nationally representative sample of older adults in the United States. It also explored whether these links depend on functional status.
We measured a range of factors including sidewalk quality assessed by raters, county-level crime rates and perceived neighborhood disorder, and participants’ responses to questions about their neighborhoods. Across models, we found that residents who live in areas with lower sidewalk quality, higher county-level crime or more perceived neighborhood disorder reported feeling less safe in their neighborhoods.
Moreover, this study revealed that the effects of these factors differed by function. For example, individuals who were physically challenged had a lower likelihood of reporting that they felt unsafe in their neighborhoods.
This study highlights the importance of investigating environmental factors that influence people’s perceptions of safety. It demonstrates that these factors are multifaceted and may need to be addressed simultaneously to effectively improve residents’ overall health.