Addiction, finances are concerns for area residents

Posted Jan 26, 2012 By Kassina Ryder

EMC News - Cigarette and alcohol addiction, as well as financial worries, are some of the most prevalent issues affecting people's lives in the region, according to a survey from the North Lanark Community Health Centre.

The survey was distributed to 2,800 households and received more than 300 responses, said Kara Symbolic, community health promoter.

While Symbolic said the survey's results haven't been completely compiled, the goal is to identify some of the key issues affecting individuals and families in the area and determining ways to help.

Financial security was another issue identified in the survey.

"Only 26 per cent of the people who responded said they didn't have the financial income to cover basic needs, yet 46 per cent said they had concerns about money," Symbolic said.

She said even people living above the poverty line said they were worried about their financial security.

"We see lots of people, not only those people living below the poverty line, feel insecure about their income," she said. "It's not just about the low income level or who falls below the poverty line, it's income insecurity for a number of reasons."

This insecurity can lead to poor mental health, Symbolic said. "All kind of things affect how secure people feel within their income and how that affects their mental health," she said.

Symbolic said once the surveys have been compiled, staff and agency partners look at the information and determine ways to help solve or reduce issues identified by the people who completed the surveys.

"We do that on a staffing level across our teams to sort of say, 'how do we collectively form an organizational response?'" she said.

Symbolic said because it services a large rural area, the health centre partners with a variety of different organizations to facilitate programs, such as Open Doors for Lanark Children and Youth and municipal drug strategy committees.

Information gathered from the surveys can help these agencies provide programs, including exercise programs in community halls in hamlets like Ferguson's Falls.

"A traditional family practice doesn't have the ability to take that kind of great energy and momentum and community capacity and turn it into something," she said.

The information is also used to guide the centre's strategic plan, Symbolic said.

The plan's goals include topics such as ways "to increase our capacity to improve mental health and reduce addictions", which are aided by information provided by people who filled out the survey, she said.

Additionally, the results can be used by members of the community to identify needs. For example, Symbolic said shortly after the initial survey results were released, an individual called the centre and said because financial security was identified as an issue for many responders, he offered to volunteer and run a program on how to balance a budget. Symbolic also said staff were pleased with the amount of people who took the time to fill out the surveys. They were about 50 questions long and offered space for comments, of which many residents took advantage.

"People really care about where they live and they really care about this community," she said.

"They have really well-informed opinions about what should be done and what they're concerned about in the community."

Information from the remaining surveys is being compiled and should be available in a few more weeks, Symbolic said.

kassina.ryder@perthcourier.com