NL’s Regional Well-Being Networks

According to the World Health Organization, “the social determinants of health are the non-medical factors that influence health outcomes. They are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life.”

In fact, research shows that the social determinants of health strongly influence a person’s health; more so than the health care system or lifestyle choices, in some cases.

Stakeholders in NL have been working to better integrate the social determinants of health into health and social system policy and delivery.

In fact, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador has focused on initiatives to support a person’s physical, mental, financial and economic health and overall well-being — launching the first Well-Being Week in September 2023.

Following recommendations from Health Accord NL, Regional Well-Being Networks will be implemented throughout the province, with the first two announced in Labrador and Western Newfoundland.

According to the Government of NL, the goal of these networks is to improve well-being by working with regional stakeholders to identify challenges and effectively deliver solutions. Possible examples include:

• Communities in the region recognize that their residents would benefit from more readily available housing options and work with community sector and private sector businesses to partner on innovative solutions;
• Network members identify food security as an issue in rural and remote communities, and focus on programs and services to improve food access; and
• Local cultural organizations, with network encouragement and support, incorporate more mental health initiatives into their programming.

Networks are supported by regional data integrating social, economic, and environmental metrics with health system information to help focus discussions.

Did you know? Community Accounts, an initiative of the provincial government and the NL Statistics Agency, allows users to easily access and understand the data that support well-being indicators such as income, education, employment, life satisfaction, sense of belonging in the community, etc. Visit https://nl.communityaccounts.ca/ to learn more about well-being in your community.

For more information about the provincial government’s well-being resources and initiatives, visit www.wellbeingnl.ca.

And to learn more about the purpose of Regional Well-Being Networks, check out page 104 of Practice Points Volume 10, A Holistic Approach to the Social Determinants of Health, at https://qualityofcarenl.ca/practice-points/.

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