What is Community Connectedness?

How Community Connectedness And Identity Could Be Protective Factors For Health?

Community connectedness is the ability of a people to interact positively with the community around them. The community can be a youth group, social network, a church, or a group of people with some similarity (Yuri 2017). For instance a men’s shed is made up the aged people who are retirees, they all have different skill sets but old age has brought them together, some go there for company, others to get away from depression because of their health problems and others to keep busy and keep active by continuing with what they used to do before retiring or even learn a new skill. Community connectedness enables people with different backgrounds and opinions about life interact with each other and learn from each other (Schultz 2016).

Community connectedness and social network go hand in hand, because social networks determine the level of connectedness. Diverse social networks encourage diverse connectedness, because people have unique personalities, some are extroverts who will do well in a social gathering where there is a lot of talking, sharing and outdoor activities (Valente 2010). Others are introverts who will do well in a community where there is a lot of keeping to themselves and minimal sharing for example a book club, where people spend most the time reading books and little time sharing. For an introvert a book club has a positive impact on their lives, they at least get out of the house and interact with others and eventually learn from them. This can make the most antisocial person to be social (Ferrer 2018)                

Identity refers to being real to who we are, identifying our traits and being real to them. For example people of a certain sexual orientation identify themselves with that sexual orientation and they openly discuss it without prejudice, guilt or shame. Identity and community connectedness augment each other. They enable the networking of people sharing a certain trait for instance women groups, youth groups, retirees, church all of these social gatherings have one characteristics they are made up of people of a certain orientation (Berkman 2000). The aim of such social gatherings is to bring diverse people, from different cultures and places, but who share similar characteristics together. They enhance interaction, positive and learning. It is obvious for learning to take place as long as a person belongs to any social network. Social networks drive people out of their comfort zones and enable them to develop a new skill or fight any negativity in their lives (Ferrer 2018).

The Relationship between Community Connectedness and Social Networks

Community connectedness and identity promotes good health among the members and the overall community at large. For instance an old age retiree, who is depressed because of the loneliness and old age, will be able to fight depression if he joins a group of retirees through the group he is able to identify his problem and get his peers to talk to or people who are undergoing similar problems. In return the group enables him fight depression and loneliness because he has a purpose and something to motivate him (Schultz 2016).

Interacting with other people motivates us to be better versions, women who have undergone gender based inequity and violence are able to get over it if they join a group where there is women empowerment. Social networks form a base for good health because of the availability of free information, this helps fight poverty and fight morbidities associated with dormant life and enables members get a source of income to relief financial burden or seek medical help in the case of an illness (Stevenson 2018).

The most important factor that determines connectedness and identity is gender and the ability incorporates both genders into a social network. Gender roles are pre-determined from birth, a female is expected to exhibit some characteristics, females are expected to be submissive and engage in light work, males are expected to be dominant and take on the most difficult task. The level of gender equity in the social networks determines the level of participation in that group. People will gravitate to networks where they are appreciated and their effort recognized.

Gender roles have come a long way and in some places it is yet to be adopted positively (Lindsey 2015). Men feel threatened when women take up some of their duties and excel in them; however this is an important aspect of identity and connectedness because analysis by the world bank indicates that in countries where gender equity is adopted there is an increase in the profit margins and positive health outcomes of households and an overall health improvement of the country.

Gender influences connectedness and identity whereby females will form women empowerment groups where they learn different skills. Identity comes in when females of certain sexual orientation come together or women who have undergone sexual abuse, and gender based abuse identify who they are, and come together to help each other with coping skills and survival strategies. This is also the same for males they will form empowerment groups and different men will identify with different groups (Albanesi 2016). For example men of a certain sexual orientation or men who are undergoing post-traumatic stress disease. Men with similar characteristics are able to identify with them and they come together to help each other, via learning and motivating each other.

Identity: The Role it Plays in Community Connectedness and Social Networks

Females understand each other better, same case applies for males; therefore gender based social networks and gender equity is the main factor in promoting protective factors that influence a positive health outcome (Baldwin 2016).

Gender equity is another determinant of positive health outcome in a community. Gender equity refers to equity in the allocation of resources and positions of power to both females and males. Gender equity has been shown to improve the financial status of communities and individuals. It positively impacts on health because of the individual ability to make health choices and financial choices. Poverty impacts on health negatively but with gender equity there is improved financial status and reduced poverty (Kleiber 2017).

Gender equity also encourages community connectedness. For instance in the Maggie’s case. She has undergone gender based violence from sexual abuse by the step-father to gender based abuse from the husband who couldn’t condone Maggie’s interaction with other community members or Maggie going to work to boost the families income. From a tender age she could not fight for herself or her rights not even her mother could fight for her daughter because of how the society views women and how women have been brought up to believe about themselves. Women are promiscuous if they get pregnant without being married even if they were raped, they are viewed as lesser human giving the men right to abuse them as they wish. This has led to Maggie isolating herself from the community such that she needs her husband’s stamp of approval before she can do anything. This means that the husband makes all the decisions in the household and it has been shown to have a negative health impact. Maggie has no social network or friends and this may impact negatively on her health. Because of her lack of interaction she has limited access to information and funds especially those meant for women empowerment.

The situation in Maggie’s life is as a result of gender roles in the community she comes from. What happened to Maggie happens in so many places where they are yet to embrace gender equity.

Conclusion

Gender and gender equity enhances the community connectedness and identity; therefore there is positive health impact if gender equity is positively adopted. Social networks are also made up people with different gender orientation accepting women who play the man’s role and appreciating a man who plays a woman’s role is key to healthy communities and inclusion into the community connectedness, because there are men who parent singly and women who parent singly and their inclusion into the single parent group is important to successful and healthy relations. Some women also assume careers that were originally meant for men; such women are empowered and respected by their male counterparts because of campaigns sensitizing people on gender equity. Gender equity should be bilateral that is, it puts into account both women and men.

The Impact of Community Connectedness and Identity on Health

For healthy communities, social network inclusion and identity gender and gender roles play the most important factor in enhancing healthy relationships and overall community health. Equal access to resources promotes the family financial status and the health of the family, because decisions are made jointly for the god of the family. Such a family will discuss investment choices health choices and insurance choices together (De 2014). Women are more nurturing than a man that is why involving them in major decisions especially those that concern health places the family at a better and healthier status. Women tend to share more than men and that is how they get ideas from each other; therefore encouraging social networks and gender equity especially for women improves the access to free health education other than isolating women or men. Men cope better when they are together and it’s the same for women, encouraging such networks improves and protects the health of the community, because people create connections so deep that everyone feels loved and accepted in the social network they belong to and in return, inclusion in a social network and enhanced connection within the community protects and improves the health status (Davidson 2015). 

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