Led by Dr. Kiffer Card, The GenWell Project, in partnership with Simon Fraser University, the Institute for Social Connection, the Public Health Agency of Canada and others, GenWell is working to produce “Canadian Social Connection Guidelines.”
Aiming to show the impact of social ties to both individual and societal health and well-being, the team will collect existing research on social connection, continue additional years of survey data collection about loneliness and social health and convene experts to help create meaningful guidelines.
In explaining the need for these guidelines, Dr. Card, an Assistant Professor with the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University and Director of Research for the GenWell Project, referred to the organization’s recent research that shows that approximately 50% of Canadians across all demographic groups are experiencing a significant level of loneliness and social isolation. Card suggests that it has become obvious that these circumstances have been shown to negatively affect mental health and increase the risk for premature death.
“Canada has a strong history in leading the development of valuable public health guidelines. These evidence-based guidelines have provided simple, easy-to-learn strategies that we can all use for healthy living”, says Card. And, as such, he claims, “the creation of these social connection guidelines can help Canadians be more conscious and intentional about their social health, for their own benefit or in recognizing the role that each of us can play in the lives of other Canadians.”
The GenWell Project received $761,000 in Federal funding from the Canadian Institute for Health Research. Established in 2016, GenWell is a grassroots Global Human Connection Movement whose mission is to make the world a happier and healthier place by educating, empowering, and catalysing people about the importance of face-to-face social connection as a proactive step we can all take for our health, happiness, and longevity, as well as for those around us. They share information, research, tips, tools and motivation through their social channels and website to help people create healthy connection habits starting today.ϖ
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