Community Connectedness

Indicator #32: Community Connectedness Rate

The original established indicator is the percentage of BC youth age 15 to 19 who report a strong sense of community involvement. In the interest of more fully understanding community connectedness among youth, this indicator will be explored here and in future reports as three measures, specified below as indicators 32A, 32B, and 32C.

Indicator 32A: Percentage of BC students in grades 7–12 who report they felt like part of their community either “quite a bit” or “very much”.

Indicator 32B: Percentage of BC students in grades 7–12 who report they felt safe in their neighbourhood either “often” or ”always” during the daytime.

Indicator 32C: Percentage of BC students in grades 7–12 who report they felt safe in their neighbourhood either “often” or ”always” at night.

Jump to Figure Notes and Sources

Technology and social media may contribute to a disconnected situation. The community is now online and unintentionally promotes segregation. Through social media it is easier to feel a sense of belonging than face-to-face.

Key Messages

• Family, friends, and a feeling of belonging to a community give people the sense of being part of something larger than themselves. Satisfaction with self and community, problem-solving capabilities, and the ability to manage life situations can contribute to better overall health.¹
• The extent to which people participate in their community and feel that they belong can positively influence their long-term physical and mental health.²
• Students who feel most connected to their communities are more likely to see themselves engaged in their community in five years. They are also more likely to see only positive future outcomes for themselves, to think they are really good at something, and to report feeling happy all or most of the time.³
• Community connectedness: is a general sense of being part of or belonging to a community.³
• Figure 32A.1 shows that about 40 per cent of students reported that that they felt connected to their community. While not shown here, other data sources that monitor community connectedness suggest that the level of community connectedness in students has fluctuated, without a clear upward or downward trend over time.⁴
• Evidence shows that community connectedness has a direct correlation to feeling safe in your neighbourhood;³ as such, this concept is examined through analyses of both the perception of community connectedness, and the feeling of being safe in one’s neighbourhood. As shown in Figure 32B.1, the majority (91.3 per cent) of youth felt safe in their neighbourhoods during the daytime, while a lower percentage (64.7 per cent) felt safe in their neighbourhoods at night (shown in Figure 32C.1). These figures also show that males felt somewhat safer in their neighbourhoods than females during the daytime and substantially safer than females at night.
• Figure 32A.2 to 32C.3 present geographic differences in community connectedness by health authority and health service delivery area. A higher percentage of students in Interior and Island Health Authorities felt safe in their neighbourhoods during the daytime (Figure 32B.2) and at night (Figure 32C.2) than in Fraser Health. However, a higher percentage of students reported feeling like they were part of their community in Vancouver Coastal Health than in other health authorities (Figure 32A.2).

Figure Notes and Sources