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| Backgrounder(s) & FactSheet(s): | Backgrounder |
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| Backgrounder(s) & FactSheet(s): | Backgrounder |
VICTORIA – The communities of North Shore/Coast Garibaldi, Southern Vancouver Island and Richmond are leaders in health and wellness throughout the province, according to the new BC Atlas of Wellness, announced Gordon Hogg, Minister of State for ActNow BC.
“The BC Atlas of Wellness, the first such initiative in Canada, will help planners in local governments and community organizations put in place policies to encourage British Columbians to lead healthy, active lifestyles,” said Hogg. “This is part of our ActNow BC commitment to encourage healthy choices by all British Columbians, so that everyone can enjoy the best possible quality of life to end of life.”
The atlas, which was created in partnership with the University of Victoria Geography Department, uses the ActNow BC initiative as a framework to present its findings. It consists of more than 270 maps and supporting tables that provide data related to approximately 120 wellness-related indicators for B.C. communities, where positive and negative indicators are offset against each other to give an overall wellness score. The provincial government provided $300,000 to the project.
BC Atlas of Wellness maps cover a broad range of health and wellness indicators that were compiled through surveys involving residents’ age, gender and location in the province. The highest overall scores went to North Shore/Coast Garibaldi, Southern Vancouver Island and Richmond.
The BC Atlas of Wellness shows that:
· Northern Fraser Valley and Richmond residents reported having the highest quality level of personal health;
· Thompson Cariboo Shuswap residents and Kootenay Boundary area residents reported the highest level of life satisfaction;
· Southern Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland have the majority of smoke-free home environments;
· Northeast B.C. residents had the highest positive response rate for households who could afford to regularly eat balanced meals;
· Communities in the Central Okanagan and North Vancouver Island are leaders for nutritional policy development in elementary and secondary schools.
Information from the atlas is already being used to support ActNow BC initiatives, including those that show rates of non-smoking, healthy weights and physical activity.
“By focusing on assets and taking a wellness approach, the BC Atlas of Wellness provides a unique and most interesting look at health and wellness in the province,” said Perry Kendall, provincial health officer. “The atlas encourages British Columbians to make healthier lifestyle choices that can help support a sustainable health system by reducing the burden of chronic disease. It will also be useful in helping to close the gap in health status between Aboriginal and other British Columbians.”
“The BC Atlas of Wellness is an important tool that allows communities to learn from each other and improve their health,” said Les Foster, an adjunct professor in geography from UVic, who co-authored the study.
“We designed the atlas to communicate what is positive and to share success instead of using the more traditional approach of focusing on what is negative,” added Peter Keller, UVic professor of geography and the other co-author.
Hard copies of the atlas will be sent to school districts, municipalities and libraries. The BC Atlas of Wellness is located online at www.geog.uvic.ca/wellness.
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Public Affairs Bureau Ministry of Tourism, Sport and the Arts 250 356-9814 250 920-8542 (cell) |
UVic Communications University of Victoria 250 472-4496 |
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