Step 7 Post-programming Survey

May 2022 – July 2022
Complete

Overall, the goal of the statistical analysis was to understand how residents perceive their own wellbeing after the Community Connectors program has been implemented. The Post-programming Survey provides an updated snapshot of wellbeing in 2022. However, the study faced challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In multi-unit housing across the country, and at Collingwood Village, many activities and shared spaces could not operate normally. At Collingwood Village during 2020 – 2022, there were restrictions on in-person gatherings and the use of indoor common spaces. Therefore, the wellbeing benefits of the Community Connectors program were difficult to quantify through the survey alone. This page highlights our key findings on how the wellbeing variables changed over the study period. We directly surveyed residents on the impact that Covid-19 had on their sense of safety, social connectedness, and sense of belonging.

Participation rates in the Community Connectors program

20% of residents who responded to the survey participated in the Community Connectors program, with an additional 20% indicating that they hadn’t participated yet but were interested in future activities. We looked at wellbeing results for residents who had participated in the program vs. those who had not participated. This analysis revealed two statistically significant trends:

  1. Participation in the Community Connectors increased desire to socialize with neighbours: Residents who participated in the program were 5x more likely to want to get to know their neighbours better than those who did not.
  2. Residents who participated in the Community Connectors program reported greater impacts on social connectedness due to COVID-19: This reflects the fact that, in its early stages, the program primarily attracted residents who were already interested in socializing with neighbours and were likely to report more impact from COVID-19 than those who had little interest in meeting neighbours to begin with. It highlights that the program was an important social outlet for certain residents.

Measuring wellbeing changes overtime

To measure each wellbeing variable, we used the same survey questions that were part of Step 3: Baseline Survey. Each variable was measured by no more than three questions. Our survey analysis only revealed one statistically significant difference in the wellbeing survey between 2020 and 2022, which is that the satisfaction with building amenity variety decreased. 

This finding likely reflects that many shared spaces that were indoors were closed intermittently during the pandemic. It also reflects that, as residents are spending more time at home through COVID-19, they were more likely to rely on amenities for their space needs. In addition, residents’ space needs may have changed with different family members working and studying at home, or the addition of new pets. 

Because the survey comparison took place during COVID-19, we expected wellbeing variables to decrease, following trends that researchers are picking up on the impact of the pandemic on health, social connectedness, and safety. The positive finding is that overall wellbeing at Collingwood Village did not plummet during COVID-19. Despite the challenges, we captured the positive impacts of the community connectors program through engagement done directly at events and other qualitative data. 

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