Conceptualizing Community Health + Wellbeing Community wellbeing and resilience are closely related. Wellbeing encompasses the goals and priorities identified as of greatest importance to the community today, and resilience relates more closely to expectations about future wellbeing. Community wellbeing and the ability to cope and adapt over time is closely related to the physical, social, and economic circumstances that people are born into, grow up with, and live in. Prolonged or repeated exposure to negative environmental impacts or crises result in physical and mental tolls to both individuals and communities. If we measure the health of our communities based solely on wealth and growth, then many are thriving. However, if our definition of wellbeing is expanded to include the full range of physical, social, economic, environmental, cultural, and political concerns that matter to most people, then the diagnoses are far more mixed. In the face of increasing risk, improving community wellbeing requires reducing the challenges that negatively impact daily life, and building capacity to respond to disruption. When considering communities as a whole, there are critical considerations in enhancing overall wellbeing. These include creating high-quality social and infrastructural connections within and between communities, providing healthy options to meet basic needs, and recognizing inequalities within communities that disadvantage some residents.
community Community is a geographically bound group of people on a local-scale who have either direct or indirect relationships with each other.
community wellbeing Community wellbeing is the social, economic, environmental, cultural, & political conditions identified by community members as essential for them to cope with the normal stresses of life and fulfil their potential. -Wiseman and Brasher, 2008, p. 358
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Denham Springs Resilience
