Vital Signs report indicates improvements in livability, health and wellbeing
"We are pleased to present the second Vital Signs® report for High River and we couldn't have done it without all the amazing support from our citizens," says Kalie Mosig, research and content lead for the project. "Between May 10 and July 5, we launched the second Vital Signs® survey as an opportunity for residents to have a voice and to provide feedback on aspects of the community that need improvement or attention. It was also an opportunity to celebrate all the things that are positively contributing to life in High River."
The report features highlights from responses to a community-wide survey that 585 participants completed. Participants were asked to help grade the quality of life within the community. This information was combined with data from service providers, organizations and local experts to create a broad snapshot of the community. The average grade respondents gave was a B.
"We are seeing progress being made, and while our overall grade remains the same as the last report, there are strong indications of improvement in the areas of livability and health and wellbeing where our grades went up," adds Mosig. "This is a great start and we look forward to tracking High River's progress in future years."
"This report is an important tool for the Town, social profit groups, and local community organizations," says Mosig. "The last report contributed to some major new projects and services for the community and the Town also uses the report as a guideline to inform Council strategic planning."
One of the new projects and initiatives that was actioned by the 2016 report was the Foothills Community Counselling program.
"Participants from the 2016 survey indicated a need for counselling services and we can now report that 615 counselling sessions were completed at the new Foothills Community Counselling program from Jan. - Sept. 2018," says Mosig.
Vital Signs® is a community checkup conducted by community foundations across Canada that measures the vitality of our communities and identifies significant trends in a range of areas critical to quality of life.
High River's Vital Signs® was a collaborative process between Our High River and the
Town, with the Calgary Foundation and NRG Research Group.
Vital Signs will be a five-year initiative in High River with a full Vital Signs survey and report completed again in 2020. The complete report can be viewed online at
highriver.ca/vital-signs.
|